


Coming Home

by ivebeensoniced



Category: Days of Our Lives
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:28:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 30,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24464209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivebeensoniced/pseuds/ivebeensoniced
Summary: After suffering a traumatizing experience and years of being away Will Horton decides its finally time to come home.
Relationships: John Black/Marlena Evans, Sami Brady/EJ DiMera, Will Horton/Sonny Kiriakis
Comments: 3
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> An old work I'm resurrecting due to a dream i had and sudden free time. Hopefully you guys like it and i promise to keep writing until the story reaches an eventual end. I took all the old chapters and made one super chapter and then added some more after that.

Will drove his car slowly through the dark road ahead, pools of water lay splattered on the asphalt and harshly reflected the light from the other cars back into his eyes making Will squint. His daughter was sound asleep in the back seat clutching to her chest a teddy bear she had since the day she was born, Will smiled and made sure he didn’t drive over any pot holes, he didn’t want to wake her so late, at least not then, when they still had a way to go and so much to do. Will wasn’t sure where he was going, it had been a long time since he had been back in town, everything seemed different, especially in the dark. He let his car cruise through the wet streets wondering what to do next.

He parked his car and checked his cell phone, it was eleven, late but not that late. Across from where he parked was a building lit up bright, a coffee shop from the look of it, warm yellow light flooded out from the windows illuminating the sidewalk. The rain picked up then from a drizzle to a light shower, the little pitter patters of water doubled their pace and the staccato on the roof of the car grew louder and more persistent. Will looked at his daughter sleeping soundly in the back seat, he thought about it, but a painful pang of hunger and a quick inventory of everything he had to do made up his mind. He got out of his car, absently wished he had an umbrella or a hoodie, unstrapped his daughter and then made a run for it.

Will banged through the front door and stopped dead in his tracks. A man stood there in total shock, the broom he’d been using fell to the ground with a loud clatter, his daughter flinched in his arms and began to stir.

Will’s eyes blew wide, he was beyond embarrassed, “I’m so sorry are you closed,” he let his eyes roam around the empty shop, chairs had been turned up right and were now sitting atop the tables, the man just stood there attempting to recover from his fright, “of course your closed its late, oh my god, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to scare you I’ll just,” Will tried to turn around to make a quick escape.

“No,” said the man, he walked up to Will, “It’s okay I just closed the door a few minutes ago but if you want something I’m more than happy to get it for you.”

Will wasn’t sure why, but a deep blush spread across his face, “Uhh, thanks, I—can I get a hot chocolate and a coffee to go.”

“Of course, but if you want to stay you can,” Will was going to protest when his daughter whined. He shushed her and tried to get her to fall asleep but she didn’t, wouldn’t was more like it.

“Daddy,” she said quietly, “I have to pee.”

Will looked at the man who couldn’t help the smile that stretched his face, he pointed behind him towards a hallway and Will sent a silent thank you to the man before he carried his daughter to the bathrooms.

Sonny waited for the man and his daughter to finish their business. He had been trying to close up the shop early to get home since he also had to open the next day. When the man burst through the door Sonny flinched, he was sure he was about to get robbed or mugged because he had been too stupid to lock the door after closing, but then he noticed the young man soaking wet with a small child in his arms, and eyes so blue Sonny thought he was dreaming. The way he stammered and blushed might have been the most adorable thing Sonny had seen in a long time.

Sonny could stay open just a few more minutes.

He turned when he heard the bathroom door closing. A little girl dressed in blue overalls and a pink shirt walked out on small feet, she wiped away at her sleep-crusted eyes, her father was behind her looking sheepish.

“Hi,” said the little girl, and Sonny felt his biological clock tick loudly somewhere in his chest. “Daddy said I could have a hot chocolate if I said ‘please’.” The little girl smiled and her blue eyes shone with anticipation, this time Sonny did laugh.

“Of course, but only because you're so polite.” Sonny went to work on the hot chocolate, steamed milk and real chocolate, not the powdered stuff, mixed together with a little water and some spices until it was delicious and savory.

“We’re moving,” said the little girl, “we had to get away from mommy and her—“

“Ari,” interrupted the man, once again red in the face, “why don’t you tell him about your uncle and aunts,” the little girl then went into a long stammering speech about all the uncles and aunts she had and how much fun they were all going to have together.

Sonny placed a plate of cookies along with the hot chocolate in front of the little girl. The man looked apologetic but Sonny ignored him and instead paid full attention to the little girl. Behind him the coffee machine dispensed a new pot of strong coffee. Sonny watched as the man’s face lit up, the smell alone seemed to revitalize him. Sonny poured a generous cup and slid it over to the blond who smiled shyly.

As the little girl spoke Sonny stole glances at her father who just stood at her side, he looked entirely too proud of his little girl, he really was adorable, thought Sonny.

“Thank you,” said the little girl when she finished her cookies and chocolate. She turned to her father and raised her arms, the man lifted her up obligingly.

“We should go…” both men stood staring at each other, Sonny lost in the too blue eyes, Will lost in something he didn’t quite understand. Will finally came to his senses, “what do I owe you?”

“…Well how about you just promise to get your coffee exclusively from here and nowhere else and…well it’ll be on the house,” Sonny handed the father a business card, Common Grounds scrawled across the thick card stock. 

“You don’t have to…But thanks,” again a strange awkward silence settled between them when Will suddenly stuck out one of his hands, “I’m Will Horton…by the way. This little one is Arianna.”

“Sonny Kiriakis,” both men shook hands.

Will turned to leave but couldn’t stop himself from taking one last look over his shoulder and at the man who stood there smiling warmly at him. Will couldn’t help feeling that maybe coming home wouldn't be as bad as he thought it would.

~

Will tucked Arianna into bed and waited by her side until she finally fell asleep. Will knew how scary it was to sleep alone somewhere new. He let his eyes roam around her room, everything was as he asked it to be, the movers had done a great job. Will specifically told them to unpack and set up Arianna’s things so she wouldn’t have to sleep in an empty and scary room and they did it all, they’d even arranged her teddy bears across the top of her bed. Will looked down at his daughters sleeping form and smiled gently, he didn’t understand how something so amazing could come out of something so horrible, he shook his head to displace those thoughts.

Will thought back to his own childhood and what it had felt like. ‘Coming home’ had always meant a new bed, a new house, a new woman or man in his parent’s lives and never truly belonging to either of them. He swore that if he ever had kids that he would make them feel like they belonged, that they had a home, even if it changed occasionally. This was his chance, he was finally away, he finally might be able to live in peace, not have to worry about their safety, and to give his daughter the life she deserved.

Will walked down the stairs and into his living room where all his worldly positions sat packed tight inside boxes, sadly, there weren’t many of them. The house had one giant living room as you walked in from the front door, an open floor pan led directly into the kitchen, the only thing separating the two rooms was a long wooden bar. The upstairs had three rooms, one master and two smaller ones. Arianna slept in the one closest to the master, of course.

Will sat back and realized that the house wasn’t as big as he made it out to be, but to him it was massive and all his.

He set to work opening boxes, it didn’t take long to have them all opened and unpacked. He put the few meager plates and cups he owned in the kitchen, his clothes and bathroom stuff went in the master and the few other things he owned went in the living room. He stared at the bare room and realized that he was going to have to buy furniture, which was surreal, what kid his age bought furniture. He laughed and shook his head. He checked his phone, two a.m. flashed on the screen and Will decided it was time for bed.

Will set one foot on the bottom stair and then turned back. The living room was dark and mostly empty, he didn’t even own a sofa, and yet Will felt like it was covered in shadows that stretched out towards him. He sighed, he checked the front door and made sure it was locked and latched, he checked every window, the back door, the basement door, and then every window upstairs, when that was done he went to bed, exhausted, as he drifted off he thought he smelled something familiar, the sweet smell of chocolate and roasted coffee beans, he smiled as he drifted off.

~

Sonny yawned as he took all the chairs off the tables, they clattered loudly as he slammed them down on the shinning floor which still smelled like the lemon scented cleaner he’d used the night before. It was six fifty A.M. He opened at seven and Sonny couldn’t keep his eyes open. He wished he could blame it on too little sleep, but mostly he just wasn’t up for it, for the customers, the rush of rude people that always outnumbered the friendly ones.

He sighed as he went into the back room to grab more packets of every kind of sugar and coffee stirrers. It was only when he saw two empty mugs that he finally stopped and stared. He lifted the cup of hot chocolate and coffee and smiled, he shook his head and set the cups on a tray and took them to the back.

His day was a bit easier after that, the morning rush didn’t give him much time to think about how tired he felt, it had been such a long time since he had allowed himself to feel any sort of joy, to allow himself some rest and fun. Sonny was pretty pathetic at the moment, in a dark patch, it happened, he just needed some time. Something his parents weren’t willing to give him. 

He wasn’t surprised when he saw his father walk through the door around noon, which was usually the time he came to check on him.

“You’re here again, doesn’t the boss get any days off?” His father asked jokingly, except it wasn’t a joke and Sonny was sick and tired of it.

“No dad, the boss doesn’t get any days off. He has to work just like everybody else if he wants to get paid.”

His father raised his hands in mock surrender, it would have made him smile before, instead it annoyed him beyond belief.

“Your mother and I are just worried about you,”

“I get that dad, really I do, but not for the right reasons—at least not mom,” interrupted Sonny when he saw his father opening his mouth. “She doesn’t care that I just went through a break up and I’m pretty sad about it. All she cares is that I lost ‘the doctor’, as if that mattered to me.”

“Your mother only wants what’s best for you,” Justin Kiriakis knew too well how his wife could get, but he always felt the need to defend her, even if she was in the wrong.

“What’s best for me is what makes me happy and Brian wasn’t doing that anymore, doesn’t she understand that means more to me than whether or not I’m with a doctor.” Sonny emphasized his anger by throwing a few mugs into the sink behind him and ignoring the way they clattered against each other.

His father only lifted his hands again and Sonny rolled his eyes, “listen dad if this is the only reason you came by here...maybe you should go. I don’t need this now.”

“I know,” said his father, “I just miss the way you used to smile.”

“I’ll get there again,” said Sonny, “just give me some goddamn time.”

Father and son lapsed into silence. It wasn’t until they both lifted their eyes to peer at each other that they burst into laughter. Sonny shook his head but walked around the counter to hug his father.

“See,” said the man smugly, “that’s what I like to see.”

“Out,” said Sonny, a smile firmly set on his face as he held the door open for his father, after Sonny couldn’t seem to keep the smile off his face.

~

Will wasn’t sure why, but he was nervous. He should be angry, furious, but instead he was anxious and kind of scared. His daughter was in the back seat watching everything that passed by them in a blur completely unaware of how unnerved her father was. He sighed but steeled himself when he saw that looming mansion come into view. He drove through the gate and all the way to the front door where he was greeted by someone who waited as he unstrapped his daughter from the backseat and then took his car with him to god knows where. Will knocked on the front door and waited.

It didn’t take long for someone to answer it. He was led into the foyer and asked to wait as he called for the master of the house; Will rolled his eyes but waited dutifully. His daughter looked around in awe. She hadn’t known that house could get so big, could have so much stuff inside them.

“William,” he heard from the top of the staircase, Will turned to look and watched as EJ DeMira walked down the steps. “I didn’t know—I mean what can I help you with.”

Will looked at his mother’s current partner, the father to his siblings, he looked different. Older of course, but also…subdued, Will could see it in his eyes.

“Yeah I moved back to town,” Will wasn’t sure what else to say. “Oh,” he motioned to his daughter held in his arms, “this is Arianna.”

EJ smiled and walked towards them, “Hello Arianna I’m EJ…I guess that makes me kind of like a grandfather.” The look on EJ’s face was priceless, it made Will smile wide.

“Will,” he turned quickly and wasn’t surprised to see his mother standing there, shock clear on her face. Before Will could respond he was assaulted by his brother and sister who ran around their mother, they both competed for his attention and when Will presented his daughter they focused on her. Will was glad, this was why he had brought her, so she would know that she had family, people who would love her, protect her, look out for her, it was something he never had.

He didn’t look at his mother who still hadn’t found the strength to walk into the room or even speak. Instead, he hugged each of his siblings before answering all the questions they pelted him with, or circling around the ones he didn’t want to answer. Will couldn’t believe that his brother and sister were almost teenagers now, five years was a long time apparently.

“What are you doing here?”

Will turned to look at his mother, she had an unreadable expression on her face, shock mixed with something Will didn’t recognize.

“Why don’t you take your niece out back to play while Will and his mother can get some time to catch up,” EJ told the children who didn’t have to be told twice as they ran out the room and into the giant backyard.

They ended up sitting in the living room with a pot of hot tea and cookies on a platter. Will brought the drink to his lips and took a sip. He couldn’t help the way his face tightened, he hated tea, something about it had always made him nauseous.

“You still don’t like tea huh?” His mother’s attempt at breaking the silence, Will didn’t really feel the need to answer that since it was apparently obvious that no, he still didn’t like fucking tea.

“Why don’t you tell us why you decided to finally come home? Is there something wrong? Do you need some help?” EJ seemed genuinely concerned, which was weird, having a wife and kids living with him seemed to have him completely neutered him. Having said that though, Will was glad he was there, it meant he wouldn’t actually have to talk to his mother.

“Well, I bought a house here and I decided that the best thing for my daughter was to be around her family, especially after everything that happened.”

“What happened?” asked his mother, finally looking up.

“It doesn’t matter, what matters is that I’m here, with Arianna, who deserves to be around people who will love her.”

“I totally agree,” said EJ, “I would have invited you to live with us if I knew you wanted to come back.”

“That’s kind of you,” said Will reluctantly, “but I didn’t come here just to let you know I was back. I kind of need a favor.”

“Anything,” said EJ.

“Do you, do both of you, think that you can watch Arianna for today, I think it’ll be good for her to be with her uncle and nieces and you two of course. I also have a lot of stuff I need to handle in town and I can really use the help.”

“Of course,” said EJ, he wasn’t going to wait for Sami to snap out of whatever stupor she seemed to have gotten herself into.

Will didn’t wait much longer after that, he excused himself and went to find his daughter. He found her playing with his siblings, his brother stood by protectively, Will never felt so proud of his family then. He called his daughter over.

“Hey sweetie I’m going to go for a while and your grandma and grandpa are going to watch you okay?” The little girl shook her head and smiled, she was so brave, unlike her father. “Okay, but hey, you have to listen to what they say okay?”

“Okay,” said the little girl, she was a good girl but Will sometimes felt the need to remind her how to act.

“Okay,” said Will smiling. He stood and watched as his daughter ran back towards his siblings. His brother walked over to him, Will hugged him fiercely. “Watch her close okay,” his brother rolled his eyes, he wasn’t a kid anymore, ‘yeah, yeah, yeah,’ thought Will as he walked away.

He was back in his car driving to town when the anxiety hit. He wondered whether his brother would really watch her. Would he get distracted, bored, would he stop caring. Will realized that he would just have to trust them and that thought alone made him want to puke.

  
  


Hours later Will was done. He sat in Horton Square exhausted and starving wondering if there was anything left he had to do and deciding it was better to just go pick up his daughter and go home. And yet he couldn’t seem to move, the day had been way too overwhelming and now he was literally spent. He groaned and finally, with herculean effort, he stood off the bench. He turned to walk away and crashed straight into somebody. He yelped and jumped backwards as hot coffee splashed against his torso and arms.

Whoever it was didn’t stop walking, in fact, they walked away unbothered by the fact that they'd spilled their boiling hot coffee onto a complete stranger, Will stood frozen in place wondering what to do next.

“Hey, you okay?”

Will turned and was surprised to see mister coffee himself.

“…Sonny, right? Umm, I’m okay.”

“Really, cause you look,” Sonny looked him up and down, his brows raised in skepticism, “wet.”

“…And a bit scalded to be honest…but I’m okay.”

Sonny laughed and shook his head, “Why don’t you follow me back to the coffee house and I can help you out?”

Will wasn’t sure why but he couldn’t speak, he just shook his head and followed.

Sonny led Will into his back office. He was finally off of work and heading home when he remembered that he’d left his wallet back at the coffee house, which sucked, it meant that he had to go back and people were going to talk to him, ask him for help, advice, and all he wanted to do was go home and sleep, and if he went back he’d be stuck there another hour or two.

Sonny was walking through the square when he heard a loud groan and saw the young father from yesterday, he was alone and Sonny could tell from the bags under his eyes and the slump to his shoulders that he was exhausted. Just then some random man crashed into him, he had a travel mug of coffee and most of it landed on the blonde father Will, the other man just walked on as if nothing had happened. Sonny was shocked, ‘what an asshole,’ he thought. Will looked utterly lost at that moment, and Sonny couldn’t stand to see him like that…for some reason.

Will now stood in his office looking curiously around him and Sonny was far too aware of how messy it looked. His desk was covered in papers, order forms, pay stubs, and a million random things Sonny wasn’t sure he needed but hadn’t gotten around to actually throwing away. He dug around for the first aid kid and was glad that it was right where he’d left it.

“All right let me take a look at you,” Sonny turned to stare at Will who had his eyebrows arched towards his hairline. Sonny gave him a look, “don’t argue with me Horton.”

Will laughed and reluctantly shuffled his feet towards him. He held out one of his arms and Sonny pulled it towards him. To Sonny’s shock it actually looked worse than he thought it would, the skin was red and raised, he gingerly ran his fingers over the scalded flesh, Will hissed and tried to pull his arm away but Sonny held on firmly. He turned and dug around the first aid kit until he found the two things he was looking for, burn ointment and a roll of bandages. He spread the cream around the wound before ghosting lightly over it, Will’s arm stiffened but this time he didn’t pull away. When Sonny finished he wrapped the arm lightly in bandages and then proceeded to do the same to the other arm.

When Sonny finished he looked up and into Will’s blue eyes, they kind of took his breath away.

“Uhh, so…do you want me to take a look underneath your shirt?” Sonny had absolutely no shame. He smiled as Will blushed and thought about.

“You really think it’s that bad?” He asked, as if Sonny saying so made it true.

“Well I won’t know unless I take a look.” No shame, absolutely no shame.

Will looked around, trying to avoid looking into Sonny’s eyes and seeing that strange gleam he didn’t recognize. Slowly he grabbed the bottom of his shirt and lifted it up to his chest. Sonny stared, ‘yeah…that’s a nice body.’

“Does it hurt?” Sonny asked Will as he reached out.

“Not really…”

When Sonny’s hand touched he red flesh Will hissed, and pulled away with a look of hurt betrayal on his flesh.

Sonny raised an eyebrow, “You said it didn’t hurt,” he teased, and Will pouted.

Finally he took a deep breath and spread the burnt ointment over Will’s stomach. Sonny did his best to ignore how soft Will’s skin was, or the tiny golden hairs that seemed to make his torso glow, or the fact that Will had a fuzzy patch of hair over his pecs.

“I’m, uhh, done,” said Sonny and took a step back and away from Will. He dug around on his desk doing his best not to look at Will, Sonny could feel his checks burning and his fingers tingling and wasn’t ready to face the reality of what that meant, so instead he read an order form.

They ended up at a table at the back of the café, Sonny wanted to make sure Will wasn’t seriously hurt, at least that’s what he told Will, though Will was too busy eating a chocolate croissant to actually care.

“So, your daughter said you were moving. Is there anything special that brings you here?” ‘Any one special?’ Sonny thought, but instantly put a stop to that train of thought, nothing good ever came from crushing on straight guys, it only ever led to heart ache... Then again it wasn’t like looking hurt.

“Not really…Well all my family is here and after what happened with me and Arianna’s mother I thought it was best for her to be around family.”

“Bad break up huh, I have some experience with those,” Sonny wasn’t sure why he said that, it wasn’t like he wanted Will to know that he was available, it wasn’t like Will cared.

“I’m sorry to hear that…”Will had a profoundly sad look on his face, bad break up was the understatement of the year. Will took a deep breath and let those thoughts go, “but things are different now. I’m starting school again, that’s what I was doing today, I was at Salem U getting all my paperwork done and signing up for classes, and since its so late I had to go actually talk to all the professors, then I had to go to the elementary school and sign up Arianna, and there are like a million forms they ask for...” Will stopped talking when he realized that he was rambling.

“I go to that school, Salem U…maybe we can be friends,”

Will laughed, “I don’t know,” he said, making Sonny’s heart drop to the pit of his stomach, “I kind of thought we already were.” The way his cheeks lit up bright and rosy made Sonny feel like he was floating. Sonny just had to remind himself that as adorable as the man was, he was still straight. But again, he could look couldn’t he, and hope, because you never know…right?

~

Will lay in bed thinking back on what felt like the longest day of his life, he absently rubbed his bandaged arms as he did, thought of his daughter, how happy she’d been when Will went to go pick her up, it made it all worth it, seeing his mother, the move, the stress, the spent money, none of that seemed as bad when he compared it to the wide smile on his daughters face. He sighed and sunk deeper into his cold bed.

Tomorrow was a weird day, nothing to do yet, school started in one week, for the both of them, and he wasn’t sure what to do with his time.

He let his hands roam over his arms, it ignited a deep ache somewhere in the pit of his stomach, and somewhere else further down, made him far too aware that the last time he had sex was when he’d made Arianna. It had been so long since he allowed himself the pleasure of his own flesh, he brought his hands to his chest and let them roam there, let his fingers trail down his torso, he hissed when he ran over the burns but it didn’t stop him, it just made him hotter. Finally he reached his erection, Will felt it through his boxer briefs, he didn’t want to, but he pulled himself out, wrapped his fingers firmly around it and stroked. It didn’t take long, he used one hand to pull himself to completion while the other explored his body. The light touches of his fingers on his chest and torso filled him with more lust than he could understand for something so simple. He came, cleaned his shame away, and did his best to go to sleep.

The next morning he actually woke up early, before his daughter, who usually rose with the sun. He padded down stairs, barefoot and in his pajamas, and got to work making breakfast for himself and his daughter. He scrambled some eggs and made a nice stack of fluffy pancakes, fried up some bacon and sausage, and set the table, a feast for a king, or in this case, his princess.

They ate breakfast at the only table they had, plates piled high with more food than either of them could eat. Arianna talked about all the things she did with her uncles and aunts, all the things she wanted to do with them, the things they promised to teach her, do with her. Will did his best not to let it show on his face, how glad he was, relieved, that his daughter would have the family he never had..

“Daddy what are we gonna do today?” asked Ari as she stuffed her mouth full of sticky pancakes.

“I don’t know, what do you feel like doing Ari?” asked Will as he took a bite of crunchy bacon.

“Can we go to the park?” she asked excitedly.

“Of course, but first we have to clean up and get changed okay?”

Will was nervous, there were already parents there, older parents, like a lot older. He didn’t care if people judged him, he didn’t, but sometimes the way they looked at his daughter, like somehow Will was hurting her, it filled him with equal measures of anger and sadness. But at the moment he was kneeling in the sand box with Arianna as they attempted to build a sandcastle. Other kids were staring at them, their castle was damn impressive if he said so himself. Arianna was focusing on building high towers out of sand using her bucket and shovel while Will added small details to them using a little water and his fingers.

“Daddy, I think we’re done. Can I go on the jungle gym now?” Arianna asked, bright eyed. How could Will say no.

She ran off with a promise to be careful and to be kind to the other kids. Will walked to the edge of the play area and plopped down on a bench to wait. No one seemed to be paying them any particular attention which allowed Will to calm down a bit more. He cast his eye around to watch the other kids, sometimes the older ones tended to be mean to the smaller ones but everyone was especially friendly today, Will would come back to this park if this is how friendly people were going to be.

There were a lot more people here than he thought there would be, people exercising, picnicking, families out enjoying their day. Will kept an eye on his daughter the entire time but also allowed himself time to relax and people watch. His daughter played for half an hour before she ran to him panting. Will sat her next to him and gave her a small water bottle along with a half a sandwich.

“Do you want to go do something else?”

“Yes!” said the little girl dutifully.

“What do you want to do?” asked Will.

“I don’t know!” She responded sending them both into a fit of laughter. He decided that they should just go for a walk around town, his daughter needed to get used to her new home and Will needed to acclimate to his old town. Hand in hand they set off towards parts unknown.

~

“I just don’t really feel like going out. I have too much work to do, and I’m starting school again soon and…just no,” Sonny ignored the way his cousin whined. “I’m not going.”

“You’re such,” Abigail was angry, she just wanted someone to get drunk with her and no one was up for it, “You’re such a dick.”

“Wow, calm down. I’m just busy.”

“I know…I’m sorry.”

Sonny hadn’t even wanted to hang out with her that day and she knew it. She should have been grateful he was there at all.

“Don’t be mad,” she said, and honestly, Sonny didn’t think he could stay mad. “I’m just bored…and lonely.” Abigail looked so sad and Sonny hated seeing her like that, it reminded him so much of himself, it made him wonder if people saw him like that..

He was going to open his mouth to say something when Abigail interrupted him, “Oh my god is that Will Horton?”

Sonny turned and watched as Will walked towards them with his small daughter next to him. She was the first one to notice them, she smiled and waved and Sonny didn’t know why but he was a little embarrassed.

“Sonny,” Will walked towards him with a smile that rivaled his daughters which reminded Sonny exactly why he was actually blushing.

“Will, Arianna, hey what are you guys doing today?”

“Nothing,” said Arianna, “Can we get more hot chocolate?”

“Ari,” started Will, voice stern and reproaching, something Sonny had never heard from the young father.

“It’s okay,” said Sonny, he couldn’t really stand Will having to disappoint his daughter. Sonny bent down and looked at Arianna, “Of course we can have hot chocolate.” The way Arianna’s eyes shone was worth it.

Abigail bounced behind him until she finally couldn’t take it, she giggled and launched herself towards Will screaming and hugged him around the neck. Will’s eyes were wide with surprise, he stared at Sonny before starting to laugh and hugging Abigail back.

“Will it’s been such a long time, when did you get back? Oh my god, is this Arianna? She’s so cute,” Abigail bent down to hug Arianna and received a fierce hug back. “Oh god, I already love this little one.”

Will laughed and Arianna giggled, and the entire time Abigail barraged them with questions, she barely gave them enough time to answer before continuing to the next. Sonny stared at Will and when Will caught him looking he wiggled his eyebrows at him, which looked so ridiculous it made Sonny laugh, hard, and the entire time Sonny had to remind himself that Will was straight, ‘Will is straight, god damn it!’

They ended up at Sonny’s apartment, there was no way he was going into work on his day off. They all shuffled into the apartment, Abigail walked inside as if she was there all the time, which she wasn’t, and plopped down onto Sonny’s bed which annoyed him to hell, but he wasn’t going to argue with her, at least not in front of Will. For their part, Will and Arianna stood at the door unsure of what to do. Sonny hated it, how freaking adorable they were, “Come on you guys, mi casa is su casa.”

Will walked forward and Arianna reminded Sonny that he promised her hot chocolate.

“I’m so sorry, you know you don’t have to,” Will whispered as he followed Sonny into the kitchen.

“I know I don’t have to, I want to, kids are meant to be spoiled.” Sonny looked at Arianna and smiled warmly; he turned back to Will and saw something in the man's eyes..

Sonny shook the giddiness away, he boiled a very small amount of water on his stove and waited for it to get superhot before dropping in a chunk of chocolate, mixing in some cream and finally his secret mix of spices, and before everyone’s eyes appeared the best tasting hot chocolate in all of Salem. Arianna never stopped talking about all the things she and her father had done that day, Abigail was just as chatty and the two girls went at it as if they were the only ones there.

Will helped Sonny pour the hot chocolate into mugs, he handed one to his daughter but not before bending over and whispering something into the girls ears who shook her head to acknowledge she heard. He handed one to Abigail and the two girls went back to chatting about god knows what.

Will walked shyly back to Sonny who was looking at him with eyebrows raised, “I just wanted to make sure she didn’t spill any and stain your couch.”

“It’s okay,” said Sonny and bumped his shoulder against Will’s. “So do you want to get together before classes next week? I can show you around, tell you where all the best bathrooms are, you know, the empty ones,” Sonny wiggled his own eyebrows and instantly regretted it, it sounded like a proposition, “that came out wrong…”

Will threw his head back and laughed, “well you already got me to undress in front of you,” and Will wiggled his eyebrows at that, mocking Sonny for having done the same.

“Oh lord,” said Sonny as his face turned red, “don’t be so full of yourself, you’re not the only guy in my life.”

“Of course not,” said Will, who almost seemed to deflate in front of him, the young father stepped away from Sonny to check on his daughter.

They left after finishing their hot chocolate, and Sonny was pissed at himself for always sticking his foot in his mouth. Why had he said that? Sonny couldn't help feeling that Will was upset that Sonny was potentially seeing other guys, but that couldn't be it right? Sonny’s experience told him that straight guys loved to be flirted on by gay men and grew jealous when their attnetion went somewhere else. Sonny didn’t think that was it though, but he knew that he had to fix it because….he was finally ready to admit to himself, he had the biggest crush on Will Horton.

He plopped down on his bed and stared at the clock on his night stand. It was early, he was bored, and it was no one’s fault but his own.

His cellphone rang, Sonny didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyways, “Hello?”

“Hey Sonny…its Will…Umm…So I was thinking maybe we could hang tomorrow and you could show me around school before it actually starts, that way I won’t have to worry about it next week...I talked to my mom, well her husband, anyways, he said they could watch Ari that day…Abby gave me your number…by the way.” Will sounded awkward.

Sonny thanked every god in existence and struggled to get out of bed, “Yeah of course we can…It’s a date.”

Will laughed, “all right see you tomorrow.” And the line went dead.

Sonny hooted, ‘it was a date’, except not, but it didn’t matter, because if Sony couldn’t be Will’s boyfriend he damn well was going to be his best friend.

  
  


~

“…And finally that over there is the main building, all the offices are stacked together all the way up its five floors. It's huge but at least you don’t have to walk from one side of the school to the other just to get to a different office.” Sonny talked as they walked, Will did his best to remember everything Sonny was telling him and felt completely overwhelmed with the vast amounts of knowledge Sonny was throwing his way.

They’d decided to meet in the morning, Will woke up early to prepare breakfast for himself and for his daughter before dropping her off at his mother’s. He’d agonized over what to wear and ended up going with jeans and a grey t-shirt, which he was glad about considering how hot and sweaty he was. Will was exhausted, the campus was a lot bigger than he thought it would be, and if truth be told he had been a bit nervous about meeting with Sonny. He just wasn’t really sure why. The other man made him feel…normal and for some reason that made him nervous, he didn’t really want to think about it. Plus his daughter really seemed to like Sonny, she tended to be friendly to everyone but Will could tell that she liked Sonny a lot, maybe it was all the free chocolate he got from him.

“Hey,” Sonny bumped their shoulders together, “you okay?”

“Yeah,” Will was so lost in his thought and hadn’t noticed Sonny was talking, “I’m just kind of tired now, this campus is huge.”

“It is, but you get used to it…why don’t we go get something to eat.”

“Lead the way Mr. Coffee,”

“Mr. Coffee?”

“…Just…ignore that.”

Sonny laughed and led the way to a small diner not too far from campus. They sat near the back and ordered food and drinks. They chatted as they waited, about nothing in particular, it was nice, comfortable. Will hadn’t been comfortable with someone in so long. It was funny, but Sonny seemed to be someone that made him feel a lot of ‘firsts’.

They lapsed into silence as they ate their food. Will was starving and he dug into the sandwich he’d ordered, followed each bite with a handful of fries and didn’t look up until he was almost done. Sonny was staring at him, eyebrows arched with a look of awe on his face. Will tried not to laugh with his mouth full of food and failed spectacularly. Sonny smiled wide and laughed, Will wished he knew how not to be so awkward or disgusting.

“You were hungry huh?” asked Sonny.

“Apparently,” said Will with a mouth full of food.

They both laughed but continued eating and Will tried hard not to let the burning on his face get to him.

“Sonny!” called a voice as they were finishing up their food and preparing to leave. A man walked towards them, he was tall and boyish but had a firmly built body and very light colored blonde hair.

Sonny seemed embarrassed, he gave Will an apologetic look before responding, “Neil, wow, long time no see.”

“Yeah I know, are you avoiding me? You don’t come around the clubs anymore,” Neil smiled and then turned his head when he finally noticed Will. He seemed stunned before finally smiling, “I am Neil, a friend of Sonny’s, and I go to school at Salem U too”, he extended his hand and Will looked at Sonny before shaking it.

“I’m Will,” he didn’t know what else to do but stare, especially as all Neil did was stare back.

Sonny cleared his voice and stood, “It was nice seeing you,” he said, he almost sounded angry to Will. Neil looked at Sonny and smiled wide, there was a twinkle in his eyes that Will had never seen before. Neil leaned in and whispered something into Sonny’s ear that actually made Sonny scowl, Neil just laughed.

“Bye Will,” he said and again he extended his hand, Will reached out to shake it only to have Neil grip it firmly, “it was nice meeting you.” He turned to walk away and then stopped, “I just remembered, Sonny actually promised to go hiking with me on Sunday,” Sonny groaned at that, “What you did! I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to join us Will.”

Neil waited and watched as Will thought, “Hiking? Is it safe? I mean could I bring my daughter with me?”

“It’s not too hard,” started Sonny before Neil could get over his confusion, “it’s mostly a long walk through the woods. Other than being exhausted at the end I don’t see any reason why Arianna couldn’t join us…and I would have invited you if I had remembered, but I hadn’t, but now that Neil,” and he emphasized the others name to make his anger clear, “reminded me I think it’ll be great for you and Ari to join us.”

“Well I’d love that. And I’m sure Ari would too.”

“All right, see you guys in a few days, oh and call me” Neil handed Will a slip of paper with his number scrawled on it, turned on his heel and walked away leaving the other two boys a bit stunned.

“I’m sorry about him, he…has no self-control,” Sonny looked entirely too embarrassed, he stared at the slip of paper Will held in his hand until Will tucked it into his pocket.

Will smiled to break the tension and gripped Sonny’s shoulder, “hey it’s okay, we all have friends that embarrass us...am I that friend?“ Will asked coyly.

“No!”

“I know, I was joking,” Will smiled, “i’m great.”

“You’re terrible,” said Sonny, even as his face burned pink and a smile stretched his lips.

~

Sonny was at the coffee shop later that day washing a stack of dishes one of his baristas had so generously left behind for him. Some of the mugs had stains so set he had to scrub them for several minutes before they were finally clean and Sonny swore he would get revenge, cut a few hours off of someone's shift since they obviously didn’t want to work. But since he was closing that day his revenge would have to wait, instead he decided to check his supplies before filling in his supply order for the next week. He checked the espresso machines and the coffee grinders and every other mechanical thing before deciding it was all in order.

After that all he had to do was be his usual sunny self, no pun intended, to the customers and his day would be over before he knew it.

“Sonny, I thought I’d find you here,” Sonny almost growled when he saw Neil walk through the door, all smiles and sunshine.

“Neil,” was the way Sonny responded, he tried hard not to let his annoyance show on his face and wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded.

“Who was that guy? My god he was hot. Do you think he liked me?” Neil sat at the bar in front of Sonny and waited for him to respond, he smiled with a look so hopeful Sonny couldn’t wait to burst his bubble.

“No Neil, I don’t think he liked you. He’s straight and has a daughter.”

“Well something like that has never stopped me. You know those married types are always looking for something on the side.”

“Will isn’t like that,” Sonny couldn’t believe what Neil was suggesting, “he would never cheat on someone for a stupid fling with a stranger”

Neil looked at Sonny a bit shocked by his response, “I wasn’t trying to—“

“Look Neil, Will is my friend, so whatever you’re planning on doing, don’t, and don’t think you can insult him like that”

“I didn’t mean anything by it…I was just joking Sonny I’m sorry…” Neil cast his eyes down and frowned, he looked like a kicked puppy.

Sonny felt like an asshole, so maybe he let his crush on Will completely cloud the way he felt about Neil, and by maybe he meant definitely. He didn’t like someone else putting the moves on his man…friend, his friend, Sonny groaned.

“It’s okay Neil, I didn’t mean to be so...mean. It’s just…I haven’t known Will for that long, and while he hasn’t talked about it, I can tell that something happened to him and I….I just would hate for someone to mess with him…” Sonny felt like he said too much, but Neil just shook his head.

“I get it,” he laughed then, “but he’s still damn cute.”

Sonny rolled his eyes and tossed his wet rag at Neil’s head, it’s inevitable wet slap against Neil’s face had him laughing, he dodged as Neil retaliated and threw the rag back.

~

Sonny woke up early Sunday morning; the sun had barely kissed the horizon making it look white against the blackness of the sky above. Sonny made a stack of sandwiches and crammed them into a cooler he had. He tossed a bunch of water bottles in a backpack and anything else he could find that they might need, sunscreen, first aid kit, flashlight, and other things. It was too much but he didn’t care, he tossed it all in his car and went to get Neil first.

He called three times before Neil finally answered his cell, he grumbled something over the phone that Sonny didn’t understand and still took another ten minutes to leave his house. When he did he looked like all he did was roll out of bed and brush his teeth.Sonny handed him a thermos filled with coffee and Neil thanked him as he scalded himself trying to drink it.

When they went for Will the sky above was already beginning to lighten and turn from a deep black to a glowing white. Sonny was surprised to see that Will and Arianna were already outside waiting. When Arianna saw his car she started to wave furiously. Sonny pulled over and helped Will put all his bags in the trunk before strapping Arianna into her seat in the back.

Neil drove from there, he was the only one who knew the way and didn’t know how to give good directions. Sonny was glad because it meant he could talk to Will and Ari.

“She made us wait outside. She was so excited to go and didn’t want you to miss us or something. I told her you wouldn’t but she didn’t believe me.” Will laughed and gave his daughter’s hair a tussle which she clearly hated but allowed.

“So are you excited Ari?” asked Sonny.

“Yes, I can’t wait. I’ve never been hiking; we never had the chance before. Do you think we’ll see animals like bears and tigers and elephants?”

“Well maybe not those,” said Sonny while staring at Will whose face was turning red as he attempted not to laugh, “more like squirrels…some bugs…but mostly squirrels.”

Will did laugh at this, “Ari there aren’t really any animals here, at least not any we actually want to see, those can be dangerous…But we might see a squirrel or a bunny.”

“I want to see a bear or a mountain lion!”

All four of them laughed as Neil sped down the highway towards a local mountain range.

Even with Neil almost killing them twice, and speeding as fast as he possibly could without getting stopped by the police, it still took them an hour to get there. They chatted as they drove and ate snacks that Will had brought with him for the trip, goldfish crackers and animal crackers all mixed into one bag because his daughter liked the mix of salty and sweet.

Neil couldn’t eat it without making a face, which made Will laugh, much to Sonny’s annoyance, but he didn’t let it get to him,

“Shouldn’t you be watching the road?” He said to Neil. No, he didn’t let it get to him at all.

But nothing was better than when they actually arrived. Neil parked Sonny’s car at the park entrance/Museum/Gift Shop and they all started to load their backpacks with things they thought they might need from the car. Arianna was running around like a maniac ready and urging the three of them on as fast as she could. Will sent them both apologetic looks that Sonny brushed off.

After taking Arianna to the bathroom in the gift shop, and Will promising to buy her something on the way back, they were off and out onto the hiking trails.

Arianna ran ahead and Will had to keep a firm grasp of her hand to prevent her from running into the woods and disappearing forever. Arianna asked a lot of questions as they walked and when she got tired of holding Will’s hands she was allowed to run ahead as long as Neil stayed with her, Sonny’s idea of course. Which left him and Will at the back of their group as they slowly marched upwards, up the mountain side.

“Once we reach the top there’s a small picnic area that has a view of the whole valley. We can stop there to eat and rest before starting our trek back down.”

“That sounds great…umm Sonny,” Will grabbed his arm, tugged on him until he stopped walking, “I just wanted to thank you for inviting me and Arianna, she was so happy I told her about this trip and wouldn’t stop talking about it all week and I….I never thought I would—I always knew that coming back was best for Arianna and I’m just glad I met you, you make me feel like I’m not entirely alone in all this,” Sonny was stunned, he couldn’t speak or do anything other than stare wide eyed at Will. “I didn’t mean to make this awkward…We should—“ Will began to walk forward towards the shrinking shapes of Ari and Neil.

This time it was Sonny’s turn to stop Will, “before you and Ari burst into my life I was kind of going through a huge funk I thought would never end, you and Ari have brought…the light back into my life…” Sonny stared at Will who looked a bit constipated before he finally burst into raucous laughter.

“That was the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard,” said Will through gasps of air.

“Thanks Will. I’m trying to have a moment here!” Sonny was seriously insulted that Will had laughed, but the look of complete cheer and happiness on Will’s face more than made up for it.

Will pushed Sonny and ran, “Whoever gets back to Ari last has to carry her!”

“Will you bastard!” Sonny ran and tried to catch up to the still laughing Will who ran faster than Sonny could keep up with. He saw Will disappear over a hill and ran as fast as he could to catch up. When he finally made it to the top Arianna was waiting and ready for him, she held her hands up and Sonny couldn’t help but smile as he bent over and allowed her onto his back.

They walked like that for an hour, passing Arianna from man to man until they finally reached the top of the hill. The picnic area was a row of cement tables shaded by a wooden canopy, which was great since it was hot and all three men and the little women were exhausted and overheated.

Sonny unpacked his sandwiches and passed them around, Will pulled out more food, smaller little snacks he’d brought with him and Neil passed out bottles of water. They ate and chatted and Ari wanted to know when they would see the mountain lions. It was nice; Sonny closed his eyes and enjoyed the peace and quiet of nature around them. Will chatted with his daughter while Neil did his best to keep up with them.

Sonny wondered what it was like for Will and his daughter, in the morning, he thought it was a lot like that very moment, peaceful and beautiful in such a natural way, father and daughter, it was something he thought he was finally ready for now that he was approaching his thirties. Sonny wondered if he’d ever be part of something like that, he realized at that moment that he was jealous of Will, of the life he had with his daughter, to Sonny it was almost perfect. He hadn’t known he wanted something like that, so desperately it actually made him sick. He wondered if Will would allow him to be part of his family, and was shocked when he thought that maybe that moment was exactly what that was. He opened his eyes and looked at Will and found the boy was staring at him, he arched an eyebrow and Sonny couldn’t help but smile. Will smiled back.

  
  


The hiking trail that led back to the car twisted upward for a mile before twisting around back on itself and then heading down hill. It was a long trek but they were almost at the end, Arianna ran ahead and the three men did their best to keep up with the little girl. Finally they reached the point in the trail where it twisted back before heading down hill. Before they could proceed they had to cross a rope bridge, it hung above a shallow valley between two hills. It wasn’t too high, and the bridge was almost impossible to fall off of, the ropes were twisted together making a thick rail people could hold onto.

When Arianna saw it she whooped and ran ahead, Sonny would have laughed if Will hadn’t yelled her name. Neil ran ahead to catch up with her and Sonny walked faster to catch up…and then he stopped and turned. Will was still standing at the other end, his face was blank and pale.

“Will,” Sonny walked back to Will who actually took a step back away from him. “What’s wrong?” Sonny didn’t know what was wrong with Will but it was making him worry.

“I…I can’t cross that,” Will shook his head and took one more step back.

“It’s safe, come on,” Sonny grabbed Will’s hand and pulled him slightly only to have that hand wrenched out of his grasp so hard it almost hurt.

Will looked like he was going to be sick.

“Hey it’s okay,”

“Sonny I can’t I’m so sorry I just can’t, I can’t,”

“Yes you can. Come on man you’re the bravest person I know,”

“That’s not true, you don’t know that,” Will whispered, shook his head and remained rotted to the spot.

“Yes I do, I see it every time we hang out, just take my hand and I’ll help you.” Sonny held his hand out and waited, he watched the internal battle Will had with himself until he finally placed his hand in Sonny’s.

Sonny took a step backwards and Will took one small step forward. It worked until Will’s feet touched the wooden bridge and he stopped dead.

“Look me in the eyes and just walk, I won't let anything happen to you,” said Sonny as he led Will further onto the bridge. Sonny couldn’t help noticing how badly Will trembled, the goose bumps that sprouted on his arm and the sweat that seemed to pour across his face. Will was terrified and Sonny had no idea what to do, but he stared straight into his eyes and did his best to infuse him with as much courage as Sonny knew he had.

The bridge swayed lightly with the breeze and their footsteps, Will’s grip on his arms became almost unbearably painful. Will’s eyes began to stray down, “Hey, up here, look in my eyes man we’re almost there.” Sonny did his best to encourage Will, the bridge wasn’t that long but even to him in that moment it felt like forever.

Then suddenly the back of his foot met something hard, then he was falling, he felt as Will was yanked with him, they both gasped loudly, a shout maybe trapped in each other’s throats. Sonny hit the ground hard and Will crashed straight on top of him panting. Sonny groaned as he tried to roll off the rocks beneath him, Will rolled off of him and lay beside him unmoving. Together they stared up at the sky stunned by what they had both just experienced.

“What are you guys doing?” asked Neil who appeared suddenly above them.

“Hi, daddy,” said Arianna standing above Will, looking down at her father who burst out into a fit of hysterical laughter.

The walk down to the car was a quiet one. Will didn’t talk much, he just carried Arianna and walked with a dead look on his face that neither Sonny nor Neil could remove, Neil kept giving him looks but Sonny had no idea what Neil wanted him to do about it. So they walked in silence and before long they reached the gift shop and their car.

Arianna and Will disappeared inside and emerged with a t- shirt and some postcards.

“Can you guys watch Arianna while I go use the restroom?” Will handed Arianna to Neil and didn’t wait for him to reply he just turned and quickly walked to the bathroom.

“You should go check on him,” said Arianna as she stared straight into Sonny’s eyes.

“Me?” he asked and Arianna and Neil both laughed.

“Yes silly! Daddy doesn’t like heights, they make him sick.”

Sonny wasn’t sure what to do for a minute before shrugging and going to look for Will.

The bathrooms were strangely dark, the only light coming from a single dull light bulb that hung from the ceiling on a thin wire. He didn’t need the light though, he could hear Will in one of the stalls, he was gagging and coughing.

“Will, are you okay?” He asked as he pushed the stall door open. Will stood above the toilet bent over slightly as he wretched.

“Don’t,” said Will and turned quickly as he gagged again, “don’t look at me.”

Sonny touched Will’s back and then slowly rubbed the clenched muscles there. Will’s body tightened against his touch before it finally relaxed, Will breathed deeply and Sonny waited until he thought maybe Will’s nausea had subsided.

“You okay,” asked Sonny as he continued to rub Will’s back.

“Yeah…I’m okay now.” Will sighed loudly and tried to regain control of his body. “I’m sorry—“

“Don’t apologize, please, if anyone is sorry it should be me—“

“There was no way for you to know that I…I’m afraid of heights, I should have said something but...I didn’t want you to think I was a coward...”

“Will,” Sonny couldn’t believe the boy.

“I know it’s dumb…” Neither of them knew what to say but Sonny squeezed Will’s shoulder to reassure the boy that everything was okay.

“I fell from the fourth story of a building...I was always kind of afraid of heights but after that…” Will looked stunned, like he hadn’t meant to say any of that. 

Sonny was stunned himself for a second, “Come on,” said Will as he turned and walked out of the stall, “let’s go home.”

Sonny sat in the backseat and tried not to breathe too hard, or move, or talk, or anything really, he wanted the moment to last forever. Will’s head rested against his shoulder where it had fallen when the boy fell asleep. His daughter was leaning against him also asleep, Sonny smiled as he felt the tiny puff of Will’s breath against his neck. Outside the world passed by in a blur, the sun was beginning its slow trip back down below the horizon. An hour later they were finally back in town but Sonny wished the ride would keep going just so that the moment would stretch on for eternity.

Sonny looked up and was surprised when he locked eyes with Neil in the rear view mirror.

“You should have told me,” he said.

“Told you what?”

“That you were in love with him.”

Sonny was going to deny it, but Neil rolled his eyes, “I should have known, the way you acted…”

Neil pulled the car over in front of his apartment building and got out, he popped the trunk and rummaged around until he got all his stuff together. As he did Sonny shimmed out from under Will and made sure not to wake either of the two up. He got out of the car and into the afternoon air, Neil gave him one last knowing look and a smile before disappearing into his apartment building. Sonny sighed before sliding into the driver’s seat.

It wasn’t a long ride, once there he parked his car in front of the small house and turned in his seat. Arianna was almost lying completely in Will’s lap, the young father had his arms around his daughter and was hunched over her protectively, his head hanging limply to the side that Sonny had once occupied. Sonny reached out and gently shook Will’s leg and called his name.

Will opened his eyes and stretched, he started to unbuckle himself and Sonny decided to get the stuff out of the trunk. Will emerged from the car with his young daughter in his arms, he led the way to the front door in a zombie-like shuffle. He struggled with his keys for a bit before finally opening the door, “Come in,” he said to Sonny and disappeared into his house.

Sonny walked into the front door and stopped. The living room was empty, a vast expanse of polished wooden floors, until they hit a table and behind that the kitchen that actually looked lived in. He dropped the bags in the empty space and made sure to lock the front door before following after Will. Up the stairs and into the small hallway, he could hear Will in his daughters room before he finally came out and gently shut the door. He sighed and smiled at Sonny and for reasons neither of them understood they both blushed.

“I should get going…” reluctantly said Sonny. Will looked like he wanted to say something but Sonny thought it was best he fled before he did anything inappropriate. He stopped when Will gripped his upper arm, he turned and was surprised to find Will so close.

“You should just stay, it’s getting late and I'm exhausted and i know you are too…” Sonny didn’t speak when Will tugged on his arm and led him into his bedroom. Sonny couldn’t see much in the dark room, just the giant bed that dominated the space. “I would let you sleep on the couch if it made you more comfortable…but I don’t have one, so…we’ll have to share the bed.”

Will pulled the covers back and then began to lift the shirt off and over his head, he let it fall to the ground without care and then began undoing his belt and unbuckling his pants, he stopped and looked at Sonny who was unabashedly staring, “are you going to sleep in your clothes?”

Sonny stood there for some time before making up his mind. He lifted his shirt off over his head and let it fall on the floor along with Will’s, he slid out of his pants and climbed into the giant bed and pulled the covers over himself. He turned to find Will lying on his side, he smiled wide when Sonny turned and they both burst into nervous laughter.

“This is a lot more awkward than I thought it was going to be,” said Will in a soft whisper.

Sonny snorted, “Kind of…”

They both lapsed into silence, turned their backs to each other and before Sonny knew it Will was snoring quietly across from him. He resisted the urge but finally turned to stare at Will’s bareback. He wanted to touch, and so he did, he ran his fingers lightly down the line of Will’s back and when he was done he couldn’t believe how creepy he was being. He sighed and lay on his back and stared up at the bare white ceiling. It came as a surprise when he felt the tug of sleep against his eyes. He turned on his side and sighed and fell asleep. 

Sonny dreamed of things he wouldn’t be able to remember later, except for the heat, as it covered his body, his lips, the back of his neck, or his own heavy breathing and the pulsing of his racing heart.

It was the sunshine that finally roused him, it shocked him out of a deep sleep and into harsh awareness and the first thought in his head was, ‘where am I’. He looked around himself, past the fluffy sheets that covered most of his body, he saw a room, not his, and then he remembered getting to Will’s house and staying over. Sonny stretched and sighed and suddenly felt a firm tug on his torso.

Will’s arms tightened around his torso, pulled him against the others body, ‘so warm, so strong’. Sonny tensed instantly, he thought of maybe pushing Will away, of rushing out of the room and pretending that he hadn’t woken up spooned into Will. The touch of Will’s face against the back of his neck made him shudder. The slide of Will’s nose against his hairline as he nuzzled him made him sigh. Was it wrong to stay if it wasn’t his fault? He felt bad that he didn’t actually care. He sighed and shimmied slightly closer to the other boy, sighed again as those arms flexed around him and fell asleep.

He wasn’t ready for what woke him next. He sighed at the squeeze of Will’s arms, around his body, at the warmth enveloping him, and the hard length that currently sat in between the crack of his ass, Sonny was awake in an instant, eyes blown wide in sudden realization. He shimmied out of Will’s hold, slid across the bed and out, and turned quickly and quietly. Will was slumped over in the space that Sonny had just been, snoring lightly. Sonny sighed and slid his hand over his face. He walked into Will’s bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He was surprised at how happy he looked; he turned away from his reflection and blushed at his own shamelessness.

He looked down at his tented boxers and shook his head, he was embarrassed by what had just happened and hated the fact that it made him somewhat happy. He decided that the best thing to do was take a freezing cold shower. He stepped out of his boxers and turned the knob in the tub, the faucet poured out cold water and he stood back as the shower came to life. He stepped in and sighed as the water slid over him, he was surprised at how refreshing it felt, his overheated body welcomed the cool touch and Sonny enjoyed it before lathering up with Will’s soap and shampoo.

Sonny stepped out of the shower and was shocked to find a fold towel and some clothes folded neatly on the toilet seat. He dried off with the towel before unfolding the clothes Will had left out for him, solid blue boxer briefs, jeans, and a black t-shirt. They were a bit snug but surprisingly comfy. He braced himself to face the young father and child, he hoped Will wouldn't remember spooning with him, or if he did he hoped he wouldn't make a big deal out of it. So he opened the door ready for whatever came. 

~

Will awoke in bed alone, he could hear the shower in the bathroom and knew that Sonny was in there now. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling feeling more confused than he had in a very long time. That night had been some of the best sleep he’d had in his life. Knowing that Sonny was right there had been so alleviating to him, made him feel safe, like he could let his guard down, which only made him realize that he must have his guard up constantly, it was exhausting and he hadn't even realized he had been doing it. It was a reflex, after everything with Gabi…

That night as they lay there together Will felt a turmoil of emotions that he couldn't understand. Things he’d tried for so long to deny and ignore, things that Gabi had accused him of when they were at their worst. Will tried to be the man she wanted him to be but somehow always fell short. He wanted them to be a family but it hadn't worked out that way in the end. Will turned and stared at Sonny’s bareback. He didn't know what came over him but he slid his hand across the sheets between them before he finally settled the palm of his hand against Sonny’s back. It was warm and his skin was soft, Will ran his palm down the expanse of skin and couldn't keep the shuddering breath that huffed out of his body. Will scooted a bit closer and before he could lose his nerve he threw an arm around Sonny's middle. It had been so long since he had felt the touch of another person, since he held or been held, he missed it. 

It was nice to feel the rise and fall of Sonny’s body. He closed his eyes and decided not to think too much about it and just enjoy the moment. He could feel the heaviness of sleep as he lay there, arm tossed casually around the other man. Sonny began to move and Will braced himself but all Sonny did was shimmy backward and into him. Now Sonny was pressed tight against his body and Will felt a flood of heat rush through him. He kept his arm around the man, Will let his hand spread across Sonny's chest, felt the heartbeat beneath. His nose brushed across the back of Sonny’s head, he could smell the sweat of the day and shampoo and whatever cologne Sonny used. It smelled good.

Then Will awoke alone in bed and missed the press of Sonny’s body against his own, missed the smell of the man and the heat of his body. But what consumed him now as he lay there alone was shame and disgust, for taking advantage of Sonny and for letting himself explore these thoughts he'd spent so long denying. But he couldn't lay there all day feeling sorry for himself. He got out of bed and picked up a shirt from the ground and pulled it on. He dug in his dresser drawers looking for something for Sonny to wear so he wouldn't have to wear his dirty and sweat soaked clothes again. He pushed open the door to the bathroom, he could see Sonny standing there, a mosaic of flesh colored blobs, Will looked but only for a second, not that he could see much through the plastic glass of his shower. He left the clothes and towel on the toilet and grabbed his toothbrush and paste. He used the small bathroom in the guest bedroom to clean up. 

Will looked in on Arianna and was glad to see she was still asleep, she was probably exhausted from the hike. Will slogged downstairs and got to work on some breakfast. He started School that day, luckily for him his first class didn't start till noon, he only had three classes a week, not a full schedule but he couldn't do one with Ari anyway. She didn't have to be at school till nine. He checked his phone and saw it was 7, they needed to start getting ready. He made eggs and bacon and pancakes, their usual spread. He remembers being food insecure growing up, his parents would sometimes just forget to feed him and he swore the Arianna would never know what it was like to have to go to bed hungry. Will could hear the shower upstairs turn off and took a deep breath. He was nervous, he wondered if Sonny would be mad, or get the wrong idea, he hated to have pushed the only friend he had away by doing something he shouldn't have done to begin with. Will didn't get much time to overthink it before the man himself made his way down the stairs. 

Sonny turned the corner and into the kitchen and gapped at the spread Will was setting on the table. “Will, it's like you're feeding an army or something!,” Sonny laughed and turned toward Will, “may i?” 

“Of course dig in, I’m going to go wake Ari,” Will would be embarrassed about using Ari as an excuse later but for now he was grateful for the time to think. 

“Morning sweetie it's time to get up, we both have school today,” Will pulled the sheets off his daughter as she giggled, snatched the sheets back and threw them over her head, Will and Ari laughed as he grabbed the sheets and threw them to the side. Will helped her get ready for the day which didn't take too long. They both descended the stairs and found Sonny sitting at the table with an empty plate. 

“Good morning,” sang Ari as she sat at the table, Will grabbed some plates for them and served them both piles of food.

“Thanks for the breakfast Will but...I have to run, it's the first day of school and all,”

“Yes of course man don’t worry about it, same,” Will ate slowly his stomach was a bit uneasy for various reasons. 

Sonny gathered his things by the door and turned. He and Will stared at each other, Will could see that there was something in the air between them. Some unsaid thing in that moment that either of them could breach but the moment was broken when Sonny’s alarm went off, “ I have to go,” he said, “bye Ari, bye Will...we’ll talk soon. I'll text you later and we can meet on campus or something.”

“...Sure,” said Will, he felt hurt at that moment, he didn't want Sonny to leave, and that made him feel shame, a deep shame that lived in the back of his head and tormented him when he least expected it, a dark twisted thing he’d thought he’d buried long ago.

~

Will barely had enough time to make it from Ari’s school to his first class. Will thought he’d be able to drop Ari off and rush to school but no, he had to meet the teacher, see the class, and hardest of all was ressuarre Arianna that everything would be fine. Honestly she hadn’t been worried or scared, no Will was worried and scared, he could feel a knot in his throat as his daughter ran into her class to meet her classmates, this would be the first time in a long time that he would be leaving his daughter with people other than family, he almost didn't leave, the teacher, a young woman called Mrs. Eliza had been kind enough to give him time to talk to his daughter before he rushed out the door.

He was fifteen minutes late to his first class, the professor had noticed, and asked to see Will after class. Will was shocked when the professor was more than understanding. He’d told Will that as an adult he could come and go as he pleased but it was his job to keep up with the work and make sure his grades stayed up. Will then had to rush to his next class and before he knew it he was rushing back to the elementary school to pick up his daughter. She was so excited and talked non stop while Will drove them home. She talked about her new friends and all the things that Mrs. Eliza had shown them that day. 

It wasn't until Will was laying Arianna down for bed that night that Will even thought about checking his phone. That wasn't exactly true either, he was avoiding it to be honest. Sure enough he had several texts and a missed call from Sonny.

_‘Hey man i have a break around noon if you want to meet me in the quad’_

_‘Hey so i have some times before i have to go to work’_

_‘I tried calling you but you didn't pick up.’_

_‘Sorry for bugging you today.’_

Will felt like shit, he sighed and buried his face in his hands, he was being cruel and unfair, especially for someone who he considered to be his friend. Will threw himself onto his bed and rolled over to face the ceiling just like that morning and like that morning he was alone again. He stared at his phone for a long time trying to come up with something to say.

‘Sorry, I didn't have much time today.’ 

It was a lame excuse but not entirely untrue. He deleted that message and tried again. 

_‘Today was crazy. Dropping Arianna off had taken so long and then i was late to class and it just spiraled from there. I just checked my phone now. Sorry.’_

Will sent that, it was the truth, most of it anyway. He didn't have to tell Sonny that he couldn't stop thinking about last night. That when he closed his eyes he could feel Sonny right there, pressed against his chest, could smell him. His eyes began to sting then, Will used his hand to wipe away the few stray tears that made it out. Will’s breathing became short, he could feel his chest tighten and Will had no choice but to get out of bed and pace his room. A million thoughts spun in his head, he wanted them to he didn't want to think about it...he didn't want to think. 

Will stumbled into the bathroom and wrenched the tap on the sink, he splashed his face with cold water and didn't stop until he felt like his breathing was back in control. He looked up and into the mirror over the sink, saw himself there, wide eyed and afraid covered in water and he couldn't stand the view, he turned away. He leaned against the counter until his forehead pressed against the cool glass of the mirror and breathed. He attempted another look but couldn't manage it, he hated himself at that moment, he hated what he was, what he'd become, everything that had led to him being there alone with his daughter. She was his reason for waking up every morning, his reason for being, so he breathed and forced himself to get it together. 

He looked up into the mirror and breathed until his hands stopped trembling, until his chest didn't feel so tight. He opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out a bottle of pills, something for anxiety, to help him sleep. He bent down and drank from the faucet swallowed down two pills. He walked back into his room and pulled the sheets back, he grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up and over his head. He was about to drop the shirt on the floor but stopped, it wasn't his shirt, it was Sonny’s, the one he'd worn on the hike the day before. Will must have grabbed it by mistake that morning. He brought the shirt up to his face and smelled it, underneath it all he could smell the unmistakable scent of coffee, something he'd quickly associated with Sonny. He sighed and let the shirt drop to the floor and crawled into bed and waited for the pills to lull him to sleep. 

The next week had become a blur for Will, between classes and Arianna, he hadn't had much time to think or wallow in his self deprecating thoughts. The hardest thing for him was avoiding Sonny. He was his only friend in town but he couldn't be near him, being near him reminded him of everything he wanted to forget. Arianna didn't help, she’d occasionally ask when they were going to get more hot chocolate with Sonny, Will had to tell her that Sonny was too busy at the moment, it killed him to lie to his daughter but he needed time. Sonny would send him texts occasionally, at least he had for a few days but he hadn't texted him in a while, Will knew that he might have lost him as a friend at that point which made him feel even worse, he couldn't stand the thought of losing a friend. He didn't want Arianna to see him sad again, like in the past, he wanted her to see him smiling even if he had to fake it, so he faked it as best he could. 

Friday evening found him home early with Ari, they ate a simple dinner of spaghetti with jarred sauce. It had been a rough week for Will and he was feeling tired and was ready to spend the weekend shut indoors alone with his daughter. Will sat at the table trying to read Don Quixote in Spanish for one of his classes. His daughter sat across from him with a coloring book and crayons, her small tongue sticking out as she focused on filling in her colors. Will’s mind was mush at that point, he couldn't focus, could barely keep his eyes open. Next thing he knew he was being wrenched out of sleep by a light tapping at his front door. Will looked at his daughter who was looking at him curiously. Will rose and slowly walked to the door, he opened the door a crack, used his body to block most of the opening and was shocked to find EJ and his mother standing there along with his half siblings. 

“William,” greeted EJ.

Will was surprised to see his mother there, she was standing awkwardly with his siblings, “Hi Will.” She finally got out. 

Behind him he heard Ari get out of her chair and walk towards them. Will sighed and stepped aside, “come in.” 

EJ and Sami entered as his siblings and daughter said hello. Will became painfully aware of his empty living room, especially as his mother looked around with that strange look on her face, Will could practically feel her judging. 

“Lovely house,” said EJ, “quite charming from outside. A bit spartan inside don’t you think?”

Will huffed out a laugh, “I haven't been able to go out and buy some furniture yet. It's been a long week.”

Will led them to the kitchen table and they sat, “would you guys like anything to drink...water, juice...i have instant coffee...”

“Some coffee would be nice,” said his mother, she seemed flushed and off kilter to Will. He busied himself filling his electrical kettle with water then sat three mugs on the table. He spooned coffee into each mug and then they waited for the water to come to a boil. 

“So William, tell us, hows the first week of school so far,” EJ and his mother were trying to be discreet with the looks they were throwing at each other, EJ apparently lost since he was the first to break the silence. 

“It's fine, nothing special really…”

Will stood and grabbed the kettle and filled the mugs with hot water, he dropped a spoon into each mug. 

“Do you need help?” prompted his mother suddenly. 

“Excuse me?” Will could feel his hackles rise. 

“I think what your--"

“Why don't you let her finish, what do you mean do I need help?”

“I just...what i wanted to say is...if you need some help me and EJ are more than happy to help you with something...like the living room, we can buy you some furniture or i don't know maybe we can buy you a cellphone…” Sami eventually ran out of steam and petered out.

Will went through a flurry of emotions all at once, anger, embarrassment, shame, and more anger. But he thought about it for a second, took sips of coffee to busy himself and stop anything rude from boiling out. It would be nice to get some help with some of the bills, his court settlement was substantial but not infinite. He let his eyes roam across the empty living room. He sighed as he put his pride aside. 

“Okay, that...that’d be nice actually.”

“That's great,” said EJ, “we can send a catalogue over and you can choose what you want from it, circle whatever and we’ll buy it.”

“I wouldn't want to take advantage…” said Will, starting to feel uncomfortable about the idea. 

“Not at all,” said EJ as he sipped his instant coffee, “your mother and I would love to help out however we can.”

Will watched as his daughter and siblings sat on the floor coloring in Arianna’s coloring book.

“The reason we actually came over today, well we’re going to go watch a movie and would love it if you would allow us to take Arianna with us,” the moment the words left EJ’s mouth Will saw his daughter's eyes turn up hopefully towards him. 

“I don't know,” Will was honestly worried about letting his mother of all people take his daughter from him, if even only for a few hours.

“Daddy please,” Ari ran to him and grabbed his hand and shook it as she continued to beg. Will’s sister Sydney and brother Johnny joined in begging and Will knew he was in a losing battle.

“Fine…” he said reluctantly, his heart was all ready beating fast at the thought of his daughter leaving without him.

“That’s great,” said his mom, for the first time not seeming embarrassed, “we’ll take extra special care of her, I promise.”

“Plus I bet you could use a break, for some studying or maybe to meet up with some old friends,” EJ added. 

The next fifteen minutes were spent in a blur as Will got his daughter ready to leave. Will stood on the porch and watched as his daughter climbed into his mother's car, Will felt empty and scared and wanted to run and grab his daughter back. He didn’t, she was so excited and the whole point of moving back was this exactly, for her to spend time with the family she never knew she had. That meant having to trust in said family and letting them take care of his daughter. 

Will didn't have the mind to study anymore, he was filled with restless and nervous energy. He decided to go for a drive and ended up near Horton square, not far from there, he knew was Common Grounds he’d probably find Sonny there if he went down. He supposed he owed the boy an explanation. As he walked he could feel his courage rise and ebb away with each step. He didn't know how he was supposed to explain his actions away. He didn’t really have an excuse. 

Through the evening light Will finally approached the Common Grounds, the familiar yellow light sipped out through the windows. Will took a second to peer through the window and instantly saw Sonny behind the bar. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open and entered. It wasn't too busy for a Friday, he supposed most people were out having fun somewhere else. It meant that the bar in front of Sonny was empty and Will sat there and waited. 

It didn't take long for Sonny to notice Will, he saw it on the older man's face, recognition, anger, disappointment. Will felt their siblings, shame, embarrassment, and hope. Sonny went around and cleared the few tables that were still dirty, wiped them down, and then proceeded to wash the mugs. It didn't take Will long to realize what was happening. 

“You’re ignoring me,” he hadn't really meant to say it aloud.

If Will didn't think it was possible for Sonny to look angrier he was wrong, Wills words caused the man's usual cheerful face to fall into a deep scowl. Will had done that, had brought that look onto the man’s face and it hurt. 

“You--”

“You fucking bet I’m ignoring you,” interrupted Sonny in what was a barely contained shout. “I think i have the right.”

“...I know you do,” said Will, he could feel his courage drain out of him, could feel the pull of it in the pit of his stomach. 

Sonny spent the next moments angrily cleaning things that were already clean. Of course the coffee shop cleared up at the moment, one of those weird lulls, and the only other employee on duty had taken one look at Sonny's face and had fled into the back, he’d rather clean the bathrooms than face the wrath of Sonny Kiriakis.

Will wasn't brave enough to say anything, he still didn't know what to say and as his courage left him his shame and self loathing began to seep in. Will could feel his eyes burn, he hated it, he hated how emotional he was, that was something else that Gabi used to throw in his face. 

“I,” Will started but stopped almost immediately, he took a deep breath, “I’ve been really busy--”

Sonny didn't even try to suppress when he snorted his disbelief.

“I have been, I--” Will hated that his voice began to break already.

“Will...I know we barely met like a week ago, but we were hanging out. We were having fun and then suddenly you stopped talking to me, you avoid me, like i don't notice each time you walk away when you see me on campus and...if you don't want to be my friend that's fine, i have plenty, but at least have the courage to tell me to my face, I deserve that much.”

“It’s not like that,” Will tried to say.

Sonny was too mad to let him, “then how is it Will? Cause last time i checked you don't avoid your friends, you don't ignore their texts.”  
Sonny was fuming, Will could see it on his face and hated himself for it. He didn't know what to say and apparently Sonny didn't have anything else to add. They sat there in silence both men trapped in their negative emotions. 

Sonny broke the silence first, “...was it because of Sunday?”

“Sunday?”

“...for the way that we woke up?”

“Yes,” started Will and realized that he’d made a mistake, “no it wasn't about that...not really.”

Sonny laughed, frustration and anger mixing in his head making it throb in pain. The older boy brought a hand to his face and wiped it.

“Will, what does that even mean?” Sonny looked at him, frustration cleared etched into his face. 

Will was silent, he had to be careful of what he said, “When i first moved back home I was so lost...and scared. I didn't know what I was doing or how I was going to handle it,” Will could feel his eyes burn with tears and willed them not to leak, “your the first person I met, and you’ve been amazing, incredible, and I...haven't,” Will could feel himself losing that battle to his body, he used his hand to quickly wipe at his eyes and hoped that Sonny had somehow not seen it, “just please don’t be mad at me,” he begged. 

Will sat there for a second before he made a run for it, he jumped out of his seat banged through the door as fast as he could. He walked quickly, trying not to draw attention to himself and as he went he wiped the tears that leaked out of his eyes. He was pathetic, he knew that, Gabi always used to tell him and she was right. He was a coward and he hated himself. 


	2. Chapter 2

Sonny’s head was spinning, he wished he could focus, better yet he wished he could stop thinking all together. He was too confused, angry, and frustrated and spent the next hour cleaning the bar, wiping down the same spot again and again. He couldn't stop that lost and broken look on Will’s face from popping into his mind unbidden. It wasn’t fair, Sonny deserved to be mad at Will for ignoring his texts, his calls, for practically running every time he saw him in a crowd. At first Sonny hadn’t noticed, like everyone else he was busy that first day, needed time to acclimate to his new classes, to gauge how heavy traffic was each morning, and to figure out how long he could sleep in before he was officially late to his first class. But as the week went on he started to notice the small things until finally one day, the first time he saw Will headed towards him on campus, Sonny was just about to wave to get Will’s attention when the boy spun on his heel and practically ran in the opposite direction. Every ignored text and call suddenly made sense, Will was avoiding him. 

Sonny knew it had to be about Sunday, Will was uncomfortable, or something and instead of talking to Sonny he was avoiding him. Which pissed Sonny off, he wasn't lying when he said he had other friends, he did, people who liked him and actually wanted to spend time with him. Yet Sonny didn't want to spend his time with other people he wanted to spend his time with Will, which made him pathetic. By Friday Sonny had worked himself into one of his famous funks, if Will had bothered talking to him they could have worked it out, but Will decided to cut him off completely and Sonny had to assume that it was because he was gay, there was no other reason. It wasn’t necessarily a secret but it wasn’t something he felt the need to announce either, Sonny assumed he’d heard it somewhere, ‘ _Who Sonny, oh the gay guy.’_ It wouldn't be the first time he heard something like that whispered about him.

When Will had the nerve to actually show up Sonny had decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. Will had left almost as quickly as he’d arrived, Sonny had watched as Will had struggled with his apology, if that's what you could call it, had seen him swipe away at a stray tear. 

_“Don’t be mad at me,”_ his last words practically whispered before he left. 

And goddamn if Sonny didn't want to forgive the idiot. If Sonny was being fair he could tell that Will actually seemed remorseful about the way he’d treated him, Sonny saw it in Will’s red rimmed eyes and broken voice. But it wasn't fair, Sonny had a right to be mad at him, to hold on to that anger as long as he wanted to. But he didn't want to, which was frustrating as hell. Sonny had said it from the start, don’t get feelings for straight guys because when everything was said and done he would be the one to be hurt, and there he was , hurt. Something nagged at him though, _“no it wasn't about that...not really,”_ the situation wasn't as simple as he originally thought. 

His day seemed to drag after that, his funk slowly dissipating and leaving him feeling hollow. He was surprised when his cousin and her boyfriend showed up. Abigail looked happy as she walked in, arm and arm with her boyfriend Chad. 

Abigail sat herself at the bar and pulled Chad down with her, “hey cous how's it going?”

“Hey man,” greeted Chad, Sonny greeted them both. 

Sonny went through the motions of serving them coffee, his mind a hundred miles away. 

“What wrong,” asked Abigail, it wasn't hard to see that there was something bothering Sonny. 

Sonny sighed, “nothing, just one of those days you know...”

“Well me and Chad don’t have anything to do, is it okay if we hang out?”

“Yeah, that’d be great, honestly I could use the distraction.”

Abigail and Chad sat at a table near the back as Sonny worked. It wouldn't be long until he could close the shop and maybe he’d go and do something with them, watch a movie, or maybe he’d go home and sulk. Sonny hadn’t decided yet though he didn't quite feel like third wheeling that night. 

It was only as he busied himself fixing up the sugars and stirrers for the thousandth time that day that it struck him. His cousin knew Will from before and so had Chad. Sonny shot them a sly look, they sat at their table being all couple-y and cute, much to Sonny’s annoyance. 

Sonny sat himself at their table and waited for the couple to notice him. Sonny wasn't sure how to broach the subject, better to be direct than look like he was fishing for gossip. 

“I have a question for you guys,” Chad and Abigail both seemed to perk up at that, “I’ve been hanging out with Will recently and I just started wondering what he was like before...he doesn't really talk about it and I know you guys used to be friends...” Sonny waited as Abigail and Chad exchanged looks. 

“I don't know Sonny,” Abigail started, “it all happened a long time ago.” 

“There really isn't much to tell,” chimed in Chad, “he used to date Gabi Hernandez...they were a really great couple...we’d all just graduated and were excited to go to college...but that didn’t happen for them,” Chad looked sad as he said that. 

“Listen Sonny we only know so much and from what I remember...it was pretty bad,” Abigail looked at Chad and he nodded remembering it all as well.

“When Gabi said she was pregnant we were all shocked, she was so excited to go to college and I guess...none of us could believe that she would put all of that on hold to have a baby,” started Chad.  
“She didn't have to put it all on hold,” said Sonny, “lots of people go to college and have kids.”

“Yeah but,” Abigail struggled with what to say next, “no one in either of their families took it well...It was bad Sonny. Gabi’s family…they weren’t happy about, they wanted her to get an abortion...and Will’s mom and dad...I’ve never seen people be so horrible...they said a lot of terrible things about Gabi, they accused her of trying to, I don't know, trap Will, trick him into marrying her or something...Will’s mom was especially horrible, she’d drag Gabi’s name through the mud anytime she could, it didn't matter where she was and she made sure people heard her...and you know Gabi’s family tried to stay out of it but it didn’t stay that way...and then one day they were just gone, they didn't tell anyone, even us...I guess they decided it was easier to just go on their own.” 

Abigail played with the mug in front of her, ever since she’d seen Will with his daughter she couldn't help thinking about the whole situation and wondered if there was something she could have done differently, in fact she knew there was. She could have supported them, helped them, but it was easier to just...avoid them. Arianna was such a sweet little girl, just the little time she spent with her told Abigail that Will was an amazing father.

“We don’t know what happened after...we all kind of just grew apart,” Chad hated admitting that, it made him feel like he was a bad friend, like he could have made more of an effort but hadn’t. 

Sonny remembered Will sitting in front of him, he’d looked diminished and haunted and Sonny thought maybe he understood a bit of the why. 

He kicked Abigail and Chad out before he closed, he didn't feel like doing anything after and didn't need them there to slow him down. He went through the motions of it all and before he knew it he was done and he was headed home. 

Sonny walked through the night completely unaware of the world around him, lost in thought. The great thing about his apartment was that it was only a short walk from the coffee house. Instead of walking around the block Sonny turned into a small park, it happened to be the perfect short cut he just had to follow the trail. He walked past the sand box and jungle gym, past exercise equipment, and approached the picnic area populated by cement tables, a few barbeque grills, and wooden awnings to provide shade on those extra sunny days. He could see two people there and slowed down, you never really knew if you were safe and Sonny didn't want to walk into anything unexpected, they looked like two ordinary people talking so Sonny kept walking. 

“I don’t want to talk about it please,” it wasn’t Sonny’s fault that he’d heard that, the wind seemed to carry the words straight to him. He tried his best to walk past them without bringing attention to himself.

“That’s okay,” a woman, “ but the last time we spoke, in your letter, you said that you were going through a really hard time, that you were going through something that you did not want to put into writing and you...alluded to the fact that you weren't sure that...that you could...survive it all,” the woman spoke with a steady and soothing voice, no judgement just calm understanding. 

The man seemed to finally cave, he wrapped his arms around the woman, as Sonny tried to walk past, he could hear the man begging, “please...I don’t want to talk about that, please.”

“Oh Will,” the woman wrapped her arms around the man, “when I see you hurting like this...can’t you see that I’ll do whatever I have to—to help you.” 

Sonny couldn't help it when he’d stopped at the name. He forced himself to keep walking and took a quick peek over his shoulder but even with the lamps illuminating the walk he couldn't see much of the people in the picnic area. 

“Just tell me what to do,” Sonny knew that voice, had heard it only a few hours ago and recognized the tone, “my life is a mess and I don’t know what I'm doing, it’s spinning out of control...just tell me what to do.” 

“I can’t do that,” said the woman, “I can't tell you how to live your life but I'll do whatever i can to help you.”

Will, it was Will, Sonny just knew, he kept walking, he shouldn't be there watching, it was something private. Sonny power walked back to his apartment as fast as he could. He went through the motions of getting ready for bed, crawled into it, and turned the tv on to a random channel. Sonny laid there not sleeping or watching TV but thinking. He was definitely confused, and he knew that seeing Will like that had made any anger he still held totally disappear. But it also confirmed to Sonny that whatever caused Will to push him away wasn’t about Sunday, and maybe it wasn’t about him being gay...not really.

~

Will fled, he knew he was being a coward and that he owed Sonny at least an explanation for the way he’d been treating him but he could feel himself start to cry and he couldn't bear it if Sonny saw him like that, weak and pathetic. So he ran. 

It didn't take long for him to become lost but he didn't care; it gave him enough time to regain some composure. He used Horton Square as a landmark and wandered around, not really taking in the sites but allowing everything to blur together. It was weird, he remembered the town as a child and some of it still looked the same but in many ways it looked completely different too. Will saw a pub he knew hadn’t been there before, he thought about it for a second, he didn’t know how his family would take it if he saw him here, he made up his mind and walked in and sat a table to the side. 

It was going for that old british pub style, something like a hunting lodge. Everything was made of some fake dark wood, even the walls were paneled with it. On those walls hung taxidermy heads, their glass eyes seemed to stare deep into his soul and made Will uncomfortable. From over head floated down generic rock music mostly eighties and nineties songs Will remembered hearing when he was a very small child. 

He was soon approached by an older woman for his drink order, he thought about it for a second and ordered whiskey on the rocks. He didn't have to wait long before it was seated in front of him perspiring from the cold. Will sipped the drink and felt as the amber liquid burned all the way down his throat and into his stomach warming him from the inside out. Will was more familiar with whiskey than he liked to admit, the taste and the burn of it, he couldn't say he liked it though, it had been his crutch when he was at his lowest. It was no wonder he was drinking it now. His hands had stopped shaking and his eyes didn’t burn with unshed tears and he was grateful for that.

He took small sips though, he wouldn't allow himself to get drunk, he still had to go home to Arianna and he didn't want her to see him wasted. But the whiskey did its job, he felt that familiar fuzziness, the way it spread through his face making him feel numb and when the waitress came back and asked if he wanted another he reluctantly said yes. 

“Will,” the young man was shocked to hear his name called out like that and turned only to see Neil walking towards him. 

“Hey man,” Will couldn't think of anything he wanted less than for Neil to join him at that moment. 

“What's up man, long time no see, you never texted me back,” Neil slid into the booth in front of Will and looked at the boy reproachfully. 

Will couldn't say he felt bad about ignoring Neil, not the way he felt bad about ignoring Sonny. “I’ve just been busy.”

Neil threw him a look that said he thought that was utter bullshit and Will shrugged, he didn't have an answer for Neil that was nice, he just hadn't wanted to talk with him.

Neil looked annoyed for a second before he responded, “well then i guess you owe me Horton, you're just going to have to make it up to me.”

“Oh yeah,” mocked Will, there was no way he was doing something for Neil.

“Yes,” said Neil, “you get to keep me company until my friends show up.”

“...Fine,” said Will, he really didn’t care. 

Neil ordered a drink, vodka cranberry, they then proceeded to sit in silence. Will wasn’t in much of a hurry to break it but Neil was visibly uncomfortable. 

“What's up with you man,” Neil finally prompted, “you’ve been acting weird,”  
Will laughed, “how would you know...you barely know me.”

“Thats bullshit, we don't have to be friends for ten years for me to know that your normal isn't this,” Neil emphasised his point while looking him up and down.

Will sighed, “I’ve just been going through a bad time…”

Neil was silent for a while, he looked like he had something to say but was deciding whether or not to say it, Will raised his eyebrow _‘just say it’._

_“_ Just because you're having a bad day or something doesn’t give you the right to treat your friends like shit,” Neil finally said.

Will felt that like a dagger in the chest, he sipped his whiskey to dull the ache. 

“I know…” was all he could say.

“Sonny asked me if I'd talked to you recently...apparently you’ve been avoiding him too,” Neil looked sheepish about bringing it up. 

Will sighed but that didnt seem to stop Neil, “Sonny and me have known each other for a while now...he’s a good guy and he doesnt deserve someone dropping him as a friend just cause he’s gay.”

Will ran his hand across his face, “I didn’t stop talking to Sonny because he was gay...I only even know he’s gay because Abigail told me and its not like I asked her.”

“Then why, I just...I didn't think you were that kind of guy, did you stop talking to me because I’m gay?” 

Will sighed, this was exactly we he had been trying to avoid. He didn't want to think about that he didn’t want to talk about it and especially not with Neil. He drained the rest of his drink in one long pull and stood to leave. Neil grabbed his arm before he could go but Will pulled out of his grip and felt the self loathing quickly replaced by anger. Before he could react he heard a chorus of calls from the door as Neil’s friends entered. Instead of pushing through them Will escaped into the bathroom as Neil was distracted by his friends. 

The room was what you would expect from a bathroom, white subway tiles on the walls and dark linoleum for the floor, two stalls and four urinals lined one side and the other had a long mirror hanging over white plastic sinks. Will leaned against a sink as he tried to get the strain of the day out of his shoulder. He turned the tap on and splashed his face with some water and used paper towels to dry off. It was taking his full concentration to keep himself from completely falling apart. He’d barely been back home for two weeks and he was already hurting the people around him, as much as Will hated his parents he was just like them and that just made him hate himself more. 

The door to the bathroom pushed open and Neil walked in, Will couldn't stop himself from sighing in annoyance, why couldn't Neil take a hint he wanted to be alone. Neil stood there staring at Will for a second. Neil noticed the water that was still sliding down Will’s face, the red tint to his eyes and the way Will’s hands seemed to be shaking.

“I’m sorry if your upset,” started Neil looking angrier than he had while sitting at the table, “but i think it’s you who should be sorry.’”

Will had to turn away from Neil and found himself leaning against the sink again trying his hardest not to overreact. He felt like a pot of water boiling on the stove, any second now he’d boil over and anyone stupid enough to be near him would be hurt in the outcome. 

“Neil, I don’t want to talk about it”

“I didn’t think you were a homophobe,” Neil looked angry and disappointed and that's all it took for Will to lose it. 

Before he knew what he was doing he punched the mirror above him, it didn’t shatter but it broke into tiny little pieces, he shouted, “I said it’s not because of that i told you I didn't want to talk right now!”

Neil looked terrified for one second and Will used his brief paralysis to flee, he ducked out of the bathroom and instead of risking going out and running into Neils friends he turned and headed out the emergency exit. He pushed the door and was pleased when no alarm went off. Once again he was barreling through town with no idea where he was headed. He ended up back at Horton Square and collapsed into a bench and buried his face into his hands. He breathed, he remembered the breathing exercises that were taught to him in the hospital and went through them then, he inhaled and exhaled slowly. Will had no clue how long he sat there breathing but it helped. He noticed his hand and was shocked to see the blood there, the pain came creeping in then as well, Will tried not to flex his fingers too much. 

Will used the corner of his shirt and pressed the fabric against his knuckles, he hissed as the sharp pain shot through his hand. He sat there his fist on fire bleeding into his shirt and wondered how the day could go from ordinary to one of the worst days of his life, well no not the worst day of his life but definitely top five worst day. No one really noticed him sitting there, or if they do they went out of their way to ignore him which he was grateful for. He didn't know what was wrong with him that day, he’d been doing so well but he thought maybe the stress of moving had finally got to him, and with Arianna not there to distract him he had nothing to do but feel the full rush of emotion. 

“Will,” for the second time that day the young father heard his name called out and once again his heart started pounding in his chest. He turned and stood under an archway not too far from him was his grandmother Marlena. The older woman had the largest smile on her face, she walked towards him with her arms outstretched and Will launched himself off of the bench and into the waiting arms. 

“Will, it's been so long,”

“Grandma,” Will couldn’t get any words out other than that, he coughed and tried, “when did you get back home?” 

“A few days ago...but with everything that has happened I haven’t had the opportunity to visit you,”

“Of course not with John being arrested…”

“Yes...but look at you...Will what’s wrong?.”

Will tried to laugh it off, “nothings wrong.”

“Yes there is,” his grandmother said, not an accusation just a fact and the soft look on her face didn’t hide the steel in her eyes, she would not be deterred. 

“It’s nothing, please...I don't want to talk about it.”

Will knew that he sounded like he was begging, he practically whispered his words but his grandmother heard them all even the ones he didn't say. Will would be annoyed with having a psychiatrist for a grandmother if she wasn’t the only person in his family whom he could trust explicitly. He looked around them, at the packed square, families and couples walking around and for all Will knew someone who knew could be there listening. 

HIs grandmother saw him looking around and understood, she locked her arms with his and started tugging him away until he had to walk or be dragged. They walked for a while, threw weekend crowds of people going about their day. Will realized that if they kept walking in that direction they would end up at Common Grounds, he stopped dead in his tracks and before his grandmother could do anything he tugged her in a different direction. 

Soon they were walking into a park, they followed the trail past the sandbox, jungle gym, and exercise equipment until they reached a picnic area. It was a bit dark, the lamps were bright and illuminated the trail they had followed fine, but here tucked underneath the wooden awning the shadows dominated. Will was glad for the darkness and the emptiness, he wouldn't have to worry about someone who knew him seeing him here, not that he cared. 

His grandmother turned to him, she reached out and took both of his hands into her own and squeezed. Will hissed and pulled away but not before his grandmother saw his raw knuckles.

“You're hurt,” she said, sounding surprised.

“It’s nothing,” Will said as he put both his hands in his pockets.

“Will, what's wrong, talk to me. The last time you wrote me was over a year ago and i--”

““I don’t want to talk about it please,” Will couldn’t stop his voice from breaking then, the day had been too much, he just wanted it all to stop. He cried and could feel himself fall apart, he wanted to be home with his daughter safe and sound. 

“That’s okay,” said his grandmother, “ but the last time we spoke, in your letter, you said that you were going through a really hard time, that you were going through something that you did not want to put into writing and you...alluded to the fact that you weren't sure that...that you could...survive it all,” as she said that she walked over to him and made sure he was looking at her. Will tried to wipe away the tears that fell from his eyes and when he tried avoiding his grandmother’s eyes she gave his chin a small tap with her hand and his eyes looked onto hers. The thing about his grandmother is that she had never judged him, when his entire family turned against him she stood by him like she always had. 

Will remembered that letter well though he wished he couldn’t, it had been written at a time in his life where he had been at his lowest. It was the closest he could get to admitting to someone that there was something wrong with him. It hurt to think about it then and being back home had dragged all those feelings to the forefront of his mind and started him in a downward spiral he couldn't seem to pull out of. Marlena wrapped her arms around Will and the boy completely lost it, he wept. 

“Please...I don’t want to talk about that, please,” and Will was begging this time, it was too much. His grandmother held him, she ran one hand up and down his back and made small comforting noises. She shushed and rocked Will until the boy was able to regain a bit of composure. 

“Oh Will,” his grandmother sounded so sad and pained, “when I see you hurting like this...can’t you see that I’ll do whatever I have to—to help you.” 

“Just tell me what to do,” Will needed help and it hurt to admit, “my life is a mess and I don’t know what I'm doing, it’s spinning out of control...just tell me what to do.” 

“I can’t do that,” said Marlena, her hold on Will only seemed to tighten as she spoke, “I can't tell you how to live your life but I'll do whatever I can to help you.”

They stood there hugging in the dark as Will cried himself out. Will had never felt as drained as he did at that very moment. His grandmother held him as he came back to himself, as he was able to breathe without hiccuping, when his eyes no longer burned with tears. 

He took a step back, “thank you,” was all he could say, he laughed and he honestly felt ridiculous. It had just been a bad day, Will wasn’t sure if his reaction would have been as bad any other day.  
“That’s okay, but Will if you want me to help you you need to talk to me. I can’t help if I don’t know what's wrong,” his grandmother said.

“Okay,” said Will he needed the help and couldn’t think of anyone he could rely on other than his grandmother, “but not today...I have to head home before Ari gets back.”

“Okay,” said Marlena, she linked their arms together once again and started walking back the way they came,”give me your address you're going to have me over for dinner tomorrow,” it came out as a question but it wasn’t.

Will laughed, “Okay.”

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

Will didn’t remember falling asleep the night before but when he awoke the next day he felt drained and exhausted even after sleeping all night. Arianna had come home pretty late, later than Will normally allowed her to stay up. He didn't make a big deal out of it though, it wouldn't kill her to sleep a little later. Will was grateful for the extra time to himself that morning, it was rare for him to get any time alone, it came with a combination of relief and guilt and the guilt usually outweighed the relief. But that morning he was able to stay in bed even after the sun rose in the sky, Arianna rose with the first rays of the sun much to Will’s annoyance, but not that morning, that morning Will was able to stretch out in his bed and lay there not quite asleep but not quite awake either. But he couldn’t stay in bed forever, he took a long scalding shower and as he dressed sometime around eleven he felt a little more human than he had when he first awoke. 

Will opened the fridge in the kitchen and was disappointed with the contents, even with the meager supplies he’d make do. He scrambled the last two eggs for Ari and ate cereal himself. He didn’t have bacon but he could make toast, a sorry substitute, he’d have to go grocery shopping some time that day. He spent the little time before Ari woke up studying for his classes, so far he hadn’t had any problem keeping up with them, but it had only been a week. Will noticed it was almost noon and decided it was better to wake his daughter or she would never fall asleep that night. Arianna got up without much fuss and then ate breakfast downstairs while Will chatted with her at the table. Ari once again talked about her night with her grandmother, it had been the most fun she had had in a long time. Once finished Will washed up and decided it was better to get the grocery shopping done, he’d have to have something that Marlena could eat that night and he wasn’t sure what he could offer someone that was used to eating at Michelin Star restaurants. 

Will and Arianna spent a lazy day indoors after their grocery shopping. Will hated it but he could tell that Arianna was bored, Will did his best to play with her but Will knew that kids liked the company of other kids. They played in their tiny backyard and after that they played in doors and when they grew bored of that they laid on their stomachs in the empty living room and colored in coloring books. Time bled away and before Will knew it was late and he decided it was time to get cooking.

Will threw some broccoli into a ziploc bag and followed that with olive oil, salt, and pepper. He then handed Ari the bag and she went to town shaking it with all her strength. Will laughed as Ari practically vibrated as she shook the bag and finally had to take it away before they ended up with broccoli on the ceiling, the broccoli went onto a baking dish and into the oven. The easiest thing Will knew how to make was lemon pepper chicken breasts so that’s what he made. Sous-chef Ari helped by sprinkling the chicken with the seasoning, she threw slices of lemons onto the breast and Will put it into the oven after taking out the broccoli. For a side Will cooked some rice, luckily for him he was a proud owner of a rice cooker, all he had to do was measure out the rice and the water and flip the switch on the machine. 

He then waited for his grandmother, and waiting was the worst, Ari helped distract him by asking questions about her great grandmother Marlena. Will answered her questions as best he could and couldn't help smiling, moving back home had been one of the hardest things he’d done and sometimes Will wasn’t sure he made the right decision. But seeing his daughter like this, happy and excited for all the new experiences she was going to get and getting to meet the family she never knew she had, well Will felt like maybe it  _ was  _ the right decision. Marlena was honestly one of Will’s favorite family members, she was the only person who ever seemed to stand in his corner and Will would be eternally grateful for it. Will had never truly felt like he belonged with his family, they made it difficult for him, but Will would make damn sure his daughter felt like her entire family was there for her. 

It was eight at night when Marlena finally arrived, Arianna squealed in excitement and Will opened the door with a massive smile on his face. They hugged as if they hadn't just seen each other the day before and then Will lifted his daughter and presented her to his grandmother. 

“This little munchkin here is Arianna,”

“Oh my goodness aren't you just the cutest,” his grandmother said, Arianna giggled shyly. 

“Please, come in,” Will stepped away from the door and let his grandmother into his house. 

“Sorry about the --well, go ahead and sit at the table,” Will stammered as he let his daughter back down, Arianna ran to the table and took her favorite seat. 

Marlena didn't comment on his lack of furniture which Will was grateful for. 

“I hope you like chicken and rice...it's nothing special but…” Will didnt know why he was embarrassed but he was. 

“Let me help you with that,” his grandmother walked into his kitchen and together they filled three plates with chicken, rice, and broccoli. Will cut the chicken for his daughter into little pieces before he placed the plate in front of her. Finally Will filled three cups with apple juice, Ari’s favorite and apparently all he had, his grandmother laughed off Will’s apologies.

Dinner was spent talking about easy things, school for both Will and Ari, Ari loved it and her classmates were very nice, she gushed about her teacher Mrs. Eliza, and Will was finding his classes easy so far. Marlena wanted to know whether or not the move had been difficult but it hadn't, not in the logistical sense. Ari said she missed playing with the other kids in the apartment they had lived in but loved that she got to play with her uncle and aunt. They ate and Ari told her grandmother about Johnny and Sydney, Marlena acted as if she didn’t know these people and listened to her enraptured. When they finished Will cleared the table as his grandmother talked to his daughter and since she was distracted Will took the time to wash what he could. 

Before long Ari was yawning and Will said it was time for bed. She only put up a small fuss, she wanted to spend time with her great grandmother, but Marlena convinced her that she could spend as much time as she wanted to whenever she wanted to now that she was home.

Will picked Arianna up and carried her up the stairs and into her room. 

“Did you like meeting your great grandmother today?” asked Will, as Arianna laid in her bed surrounded by her fluffy pink sheets. 

“Yes!” said Arianna as she settled into her bed. 

“Good,” said Will, “you’ll be seeing her a lot from now on, hopefully,” Will smiled down at his beautiful daughter, “would you like that?”

“Yes!” said her daughter again as she pulled the sheets over her head giggling. 

Will ended up reading a story to Arianna as she drifted off to sleep. Will waited a moment and watched the gentle fall and rise of his daughters breathing and took comfort in the fact that they were together and safe. Reluctantly, Will trudged back down stairs and found his grandmother sitting at his kitchen table looking through the catalogue EJ had left with him. 

“She’s sleeping,” said Will, just to break the silence. “Coffee?” He asked just for something to do. He busied himself filling his electric kettle with water and flipped the switch for it to boil. He took two chipped mugs down from the cupboards and filled them with instant coffee. The routine of it took little time, he sighed as he let himself fall into his chair across from his grandmother cups of coffee in front of each of them. 

She sat there smiling at him, reading him like an open book, like the catalogue sitting in front of her. She reached out and took his hands into hers and squeezed and Will couldn't help it when a knot formed in his throat. 

“Will I love you so much, you know that don’t you?”

“Yes,” Will had to whisper to keep himself from crying. 

“Talk to me, tell me everything,”

“Everything?”

“Yes,” said his grandmother, “everything.”

Will sighed and took a sip of his coffee, he’d been doing a lot of thinking since he’d moved back. His memories were all jumbled together in his mind, the last five years had been so chaotic, horrible and amazing. But sometimes it was hard to remember when his spiral downward had started. He knew there were good times, near the beginning, and most of the bad happened at the end. So he would start at the beginning. 

Will couged to clear his throat, “when me and Gabi left we thought we were doing what was right for us...for our daughter...You should have seen mom and dad, they way they reacted when we told them we were having a kid...It was like...like I told them that I murdered someone, I think they would have dealt with a murder better than this anyways...So we left. We ended up in Chicago, in a highrise apartment...we were on the fourth floor. It was small but it was ours and...when I think back i remember that first year being...nice. We were....we were happy” 

Will shook his head and laughed, he could feel tears start to slide down his face already and resented it. “But after Ari was born things changed...I--I had two jobs waiting tables during the day and Gabi was a waitress at a bar at night. And things were good...for a while but...Gabi she...she changed, I don’t know. We both changed…”

Will sipped coffee from the chipped mug that he and Gabi had bought at a thrift store that first year they lived together. Most of the cutlery and dishes in Will’s cupboards were bought at thrift stores, none of them matched, and like the one he was holding some were chipped. Will hadn’t been able to throw them out, the memories they brought back were tainted, but they were his and he didn’t want to forget. 

“It started it off with little things here and there, just comments then we just started disagreeing, and then arguing, and finally we just fought all the time. I think at that point she had already started seeing the bartender there...But she started accusing me of,” and Will had to stop there as his voice cracked, “she said I didn't love her right. That I should...I don’t know, she said that a real man would be all over her all the time and we had only ever had sex that one time and...and she was right.” 

Will cried, he had to stop and breathe but his grandmother was there, she got up and hugged him and Will buried his face in her neck. 

“I didn’t want to...but she figured it out before I did. She started drinking and would come home drunk and I don't know, I started drinking too,” Will tried to rush through it but it only became harder to admit, “until one day I finally just admitted it, I told her I was confused that it didn’t mean anything but she then started accusing me of tricking her, that she ruined her life because of me I tried to tell her that I did love her, she said it wasn't the way she needed me to...and she left.”

Will tried to get his hiccuping breathes back under control but it was near impossible, the solid presence of his grandmother was a massive relief, “Gabi...she said she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life stuck living with a gay boy and one day she left...packed her bags and left.”

Will waited for his grandmother to say something, anything, but he couldn’t stand the waiting, “Did you hear me...I just said I’m gay, aren’t you going to say something, are you angry? Or like shocked? Disgusted? Do you feel anything?”

“I do,” said his grandmother in her most soothing voice, “I think you know that I love you… and this is something that I have suspected you’ve been dealing with for a long time.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Will felt almost betrayed by the implication.

“Because it's a thing you have to sort out for yourself, I can’t tell you who you are, I can’t tell you how to feel, that's a thing you have to figure out on your own,” Will’s grandmother tightened her hold on the younger man, “please remember something, I will never ever judge you...I just want you to be happy.”

“I want to be happy too,” hiccuped Will, “honestly i can’t even remember that last time i was happy…”

They sat for a while sipping their coffee. Will tried to get his memories back in order, there was so much left to tell.

“It was just me and Ari for a while and it was really hard,” Will scoffed as he wiped at his face, “she was such a fussy baby and cried all the time. She cried so much that the neighbors complained. I guess the lady next door took pity on me and she said she would babysit while I went to work, she taught me a lot...and me and Ari went on like that for a few years. I made peace with it I --I didn't mind stopping everything to raise Ari because when I looked at her and she would smile at me,” Will turned to his grandmother with his own smile plastered across his face, “It was worth it because I had Ari.”

It was hard to describe the love Will felt for his little girl, it was something all consuming and terrifying but just by looking at his grandmother who smiled at him Will knew she understood. She was a mother herself after all. 

“Then a year ago...I was sleeping, it was the middle of the night, when someone broke into my apartment. I remember the sound of the wood splintering as the door was knocked off its hinges. I got up to check what it was when I was jumped, I remember just being punched mercilessly but when I came to my senses I started to fight back...I could hear Ari crying in the background and that’s the moment I knew something was wrong. Then Gabi was standing there with Ari in her arms, she looked scared, she started begging me, telling me that Arianna would be better off with her and her boyfriend Nick, that she deserved a real family. I remember losing it,  _ she’s the one who left, not me, she’s the one who ran and left her with me!”  _ Will could barely keep himself from shouting, but Arianna was upstairs sleeping and Will didn’t want to disturb her.

_ “ _ I lunged for her, for Ari, I wanted to get her away from Gabi but her boyfriend was still there and we fought. I got a grip on Ari and then Gabi started fighting too...then she pushed me. I don’t remember much after that...just the sound of the glass shattering...the police said I was lucky, there was a tree underneath the window and the branches slowed my fall down enough that I didn’t...die. But I hit my head and apparently I spent the next few months in a coma...The next thing I knew I woke up in the hospital alone and had no idea where I was and what had happened...I had a major meltdown, I yelled and trashed around, threw things against the wall, they had to sedate me. Next time I woke up a police detective was there and he told me everything. That Gabi and her boyfriend Nick had broken into my house and tried to steal Ari away from me. They hadn’t made it far before the police caught them...Their trial had already started, doctors had no idea if I was ever going to wake up from my coma. The police proceeded with charges without me, but I did...wake up. Then the next few months were spent with me trying to get Ari out of foster care and back home with me.``

Will stole a glance at his grandmother and was shocked to see the tears in the woman’s eyes. Will took some time to compose himself, sipped his tepid coffee and went on. 

“Rafe came to see,”  
“Gabi’s brother?”

“Yeah,” said Will, remembering the meeting well, “he came to beg me to drop the charges...But I wasn’t going to do that...we eventually came to a deal. My lawyer spoke to her lawyers and she agreed to plead guilty for a reduced sentence but she had to sign her parental rights away...there’s also a restraining order...a lot of the court stuff happened while I was still in my coma...I got a settlement from it which is the money I used to buy this house and pay for school and things.”

This time it was his grandmother who had to hug him for support, she cried and Will couldn’t stop himself from crying with her. 

“I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you,” started his grandmother. 

Will shook his head, “I didn't want anyone there, I didn’t want my parents to know that they were right, that I wasn’t ready for any of it. And I knew that if you knew it would only be a matter of time before they knew.”

“I love you so much,” was the only way his grandmother could think of responding.

“I know,” said Will, “it means so much for me to hear you say that.”

Will didn have any energy to go into too much detail after that, he had been trying to forget them anyways. 

Before she left Marlena pulled Will into a bone crushing hug, “I am so proud of you and I will always love you. Nothing can change that, okay?”

Will shook his head to acknowledge what she said. 

“What do your tuesdays look like?”

“My tuesdays?”

“Yes,” said his grandmother and laughed. “It's just that I happen to have tuesdays off and I thought maybe I could pick Arianna up from school that day and keep her until the evening. That way you could get some time to study for school, maybe find a small job or something, whatever you want to do, but how does that sound to you.”

Will was shocked,”that--that sounds amazing.”

“Good,” said his grandmother as they walked towards the door. She turned and gave him an appraising look before she kissed him on the cheek and left. 


	4. Chapter 4

Sonny laughed and tried not to spill syrup all over his new shirt. His parents insisted that they eat breakfast together sunday morning and so he found himself at the coffee house earlier than he would have liked. They chatted about nothing in particular, ever since his mom stopped bringing up his ex boyfriend Sonny found spending time with his parents to actually be pleasant. That morning they laughed as his mom retold a childhood story about Sonny.

“That was the day I knew,” said Adrienne. “I should have known sooner but I kept making excuses. Like that day I found you wearing my pumps,” at this Sonny snorted again and barely missed getting syrup over his pants. 

“I was curious,” Sonny tried to defend himself, “and I was like ten, even I didn’t know then.” 

His dad laughed, “I remember that day, when I came home you and your mother were having a full on costume party. Imagine my shock when I walked through the door and saw you wearing one of your mother's dresses and sun hats, wobbling in her heels.”

Sonny couldn’t help smiling up at his dad, “were you mad?”

“No,” said his father instantly, “I thought how am I going to keep Adrienne from finding out her son was wearing her favorite heels around the house. Luckily, I didn't have to.”

Justin reached out and took his wife's hand and Adrienne smiled up at him as well. Sonny was grateful knowing that his parents had always supported him, he knew it couldn't have been easy...or maybe it was for them, they loved him, Sonny thought maybe that is all that mattered. 

After breakfast Sonny decided to head home for a quick lie down before doing some homework he’d been neglecting all week. He walked the familiar blocks towards his house and decided to take his shortcut through the park, it was a particularly beautiful day after all and he wanted the fresh air. The park was fairly busy that day, lots of families were out, Sonny could hear the play area before he actually saw it, but as he turned around a bend in the trail he came face to face with it. The sandbox looked pretty packed, children were running around yelling and laughing in glee and right in the middle of the throng of children was Will and his daughter. They were building a sandcastle, an impressive one at that, Arianna was focusing on a turret of the castle, she filled her small blue bucket of sand and then carefully tipped the heavy thing over, she looked up at her dad excitedly as she slowly removed the bucket. Left behind was a perfect turret of sand, Ari and Will both shouted in glee. Then whatever spider sense that girl possessed kicked in and she looked up and saw Sonny and she smiled and waved.

“Sonny!” she shouted and Sonny couldn’t help smiling back at the little girl. Something about having a small child smile at him made him want to smile in return. Will had the same sheepish look he’d had since that first day they’d met. Sonny walked towards them and climbed into the sandpit. He lowered himself down onto his knees and took a long hard stare at their sandcastle. It was impressive, they seemed practiced at it, there were little details throughout, flowers here and there and Sonny could have sworn that above where the door should have been was a coat of arms. 

“Wow guys, this is impressive,” Sonny smiled at Ari since Will seemed to be concentrating extra hard at the sand beneath his hand. 

“Are you going to play with us?” asked Ari. At that her father finally looked up.

“Ari, Sonny’s busy--”

“No I'm not,” Sonny interrupted. He gave Will a hard stare that had the father looking away again. 

“You don’t have to,” was Will’s weak attempt at giving Sonny an out.

“How can I help?” asked Sonny, Ari and Will exchanged what Sonny could only call an evil look.

“You and daddy can start on castle number 2,” Arianna held up two little fingers and then handed her bucket to Sonny. 

“Castle number two, how many do you guys build?”

Before he got his answer Arianna and Will yelled at the top of their voices, roared really, people turned to look. Then the little girl jumped and practically body slammed the castle she had been working on, Will covered his face and Sonny foolishly wondered why when Arianna started to kick her castle into oblivion. Sonny caught Will’s eyes as he spat out a mouth full of sand, his eyes were shining with unhidden mirth and Sonny was reminded all over again why he couldn’t stop thinking about the young father. It was that there, that look he was giving him then, it was the look he’d give him seconds before they kissed, at night, in Sonny’s dreams.

Arianna shook her body like a small dog as a cloud of sand flew around her, all three of them laughed as Ari finished cleaning off and she put them to work.

Sonny carefully tipped the bucket over, both father and daughter watching him eagle eyed, he slowly lifted it and as the plastic bucket cleared the sand tower what was left behind was a turret missing most of its top half. Both Ari and Will groaned in disappointment though it hadn’t hidden their little giggles. 

Sonny gave both father and daughter an appraising look, “this is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be...are you guys not telling me something.”

Ari broke into laughter immediately, Will held his resolve but couldn’t keep the smile off his face. 

“Maybe try again,” Will said instead, lifting one of his eyebrows almost like he was challenging Sonny, and Sonny never backed down from a challenge. 

“Okay Horton you’re on,”

Sonny flipped the bucket over, shoveled as much sand as he could with his hand into it and then turned the bucket over and pulled it off with a flourish, most of the sand spilled out into an amorphous blob that didn’t come close to resembling the turrets that they were supposed to look like. This time Will and Arianna did laugh, Ari was giggling so hard she had to bury her face into her fathers neck. 

“Okay, fine I give up,” Sonny admitted defeat and handed the bucket back to the little girl. 

Sonny swore he saw a mischievous gleam in Arianna’s eyes before she spoke, “that means you owe us.”

“I do, do I,” said Sonny unable to keep the smile off his own face. 

“Yes!” said Arianna as she picked the bucket up and handed it to her dad. 

Will took the bucket and filled it with sand, when it was halfway full he used his hand to pack the sand all the way to the bottom, then added more sand and did the same. He flipped the bucket over and gave the bottom a few taps and then slowly lifted the bucket, what was left behind was a pile of sand perfectly molded to the turret shape inside the bucket.

Sonny looked up and into Will’s eyes, the young father wiggled his eyebrows at him and Sonny couldn’t help the laugh that sprunge out of his chest. They spent the next moments diligently building a sand castle, Will laid out four turrets and Sonny and Arianna built the walls between. Then Will, using a small twig and a little water, traced out small details into the walls, slots for arrows, flowers here and there, and for the pièce de résistance all three of them shouted and crushed the castle until nothing was left but Arianna’s footprints. 

They climbed out of the sand box panting and covered in sand. They ended up sitting at some benches not too far away for a rest. 

“What are you guys doing today?” Sonny asked Will as they sat eating and drinking water. Ari was quietly munching on a sandwich her father had handed to her.

“Nothing really,” Will shrugged, “just trying to keep the munchkin entertained.” 

“Well,” began Sonny, “you know apparently I owe you.”

“Yeah I heard that,” said Will, smiling. 

“Why don’t you guys come over and watch a movie with me then,” asked Sonny, hope blossoming in his stomach, it surprisingly felt like nausea. 

Neither man missed the way Arianna’s head turned to her father, her puppy dog eyes already firmly in place. Sonny could see the moment Will’s resolve cracked. 

“Okay,” he said and his daughter whooped in excitement. 

“Alright, “ said Sonny just realizing how nervous he’d been, still was for some reason. 

~

Adrienne Kiriakis wondered if her son would be angry or extremely angry if she decided to stop by his apartment. She hadn’t wanted to do it in front of her husband Justin, but she recently met a man, a gay man of course, someone she thought maybe Sonny would like. He was handsome, reliable, and even owned his own business, a small restaurant not too far from Salem U and Adrienne had described her son and now possessed said man's phone number. She knew she shouldn’t be meddling in her son's love life but Sonny seemed to have the worst taste when it came to men, no one ever seemed to stick around for long. Then she’d have to deal with a sulking Sonny who spent the next months snapping at her and her husband and she just couldn’t deal. 

Last week had been a perfect example of what she was talking about, Sonny started the week looking happier than she’d seen him in days. But as the week progressed he just spiraled downwards until friday he’d snapped at her when she called to check up on him. She hadn’t bothered asking what it was about Adrienne knew it had to do with a man. 

But as she’d walked through the park she saw something that had her stopping mid stride. Her son was kneeling in the sand pit playing with a little girl. There was a boy there too, a blonde man whom Adrienne knew looked familiar but she just couldn’t quite place him then. They were building a sandcastle and chatting, Adrienne couldn’t hear what they were saying but she thought she heard the little girl call the boy _‘daddy’_. She thought he looked far too young to be a father but she could have been mistaken. There was a moment when the little girl was distracted that both men looked up and locked eyes and Adrienne saw it then, in her son's eyes, he was infatuated. She thought she saw the same thing in the other boy's eyes. 

Adrienne didn’t know what to think, but she knew she wasn’t going to be giving her son any phone numbers that day. She turned to walk away but turned back when she heard a loud roar, the group were shouting at the top of their lungs, her son included, when the little girl started stomping around like a monster through the castle they had just finished building. They laughed and Adrienne had to admit, the little girl was cute. She turned and walked away, she’d leave her son alone, for the moment. She had some digging to do, she’d hate it if her son got involved with someone he shouldn’t be. 

~

Sonny had that agonizing moment of doubt right before he opened the door to his apartment, he couldn’t remember whether or not he’d cleaned up that morning. He pushed the door open and let out the breath he'd been holding. It was normal messy rather than hoarder messy, but he did run in and grab his dirty clothes off the floor and tossed them into the hamper before Will and Ari entered. As usual both people who normally seemed so brave stood at his threshold looking unsure. 

“Are you going to watch the movie from the hallway?” Asked Sonny sarcastically.

Will rolled his eyes and entered, Ari ran from her father and launched herself onto the couch in front of the television. 

“So what do you guys want to watch?” Sonny asked as he placed some popcorn into the microwave. 

“Emperor!” yelled Ari, she raised her hands in the air and began to chant, “Emperor.”

Sonny looked at Will, “Do you know what that is?”

Will laughed, “yeah she wants to watch The Emperor's New Groove.”

“It’s daddy’s favorite,” said Ari like she was passing on ancient wisdom. 

Sonny turned to look at Will and wasn’t surprised when he saw him blushing, “yeah that’s one of my favorites too,” said Sonny as he walked over to his TV to set up the bluray player, “in fact I have it on bluray.”

Sonny put the disc into the tray and went back to retrieve the popcorn from the microwave.

“Let me help you with that,” said Will as he followed Sonny into the kitchen, “where do you keep the bowls?”

Sonny pointed to one of his lower cabinets where he kept some oversized crockery. Will grabbed a big red bowl and handed it to Sonny. As Sonny was taking the bowel from Will something caught his eye. He grabbed Will’s wrist and looked up at him shocked and concerned. 

“What happened?” Asked Sonny. 

Will’s hand was scabbed over and bloody looking. Will pulled his hand away and looked at it too almost as if he didn’t know what Sonny was talking about. 

“It’s not a big deal, I scraped my knuckles the other day...tripped.”

Sonny could tell that Will wasn’t telling him something but he let it go in favor of enjoying the movie. They sat on the sofa, Arianna laying between both men, popcorn bowl in hand and watched as the opening monologue of the movie began. 

Ari didn’t make it too far into the movie before she fell asleep. By the time Emperor Kuzco became a llama, Ari was sound asleep in her father's lap. Both men chatted quietly as the movie played, nothing serious, about school and random stuff that came to mind until they eventually lapsed into silence once again.

Sonny tried not to be too obvious about his staring, he watched as Will quoted the movie under his breath, lips moving softly with the characters on the screen, Sonny would guess that he knew the movie line for line. Sonny tried to focus on the movie, and for a while he could, but there was a moment half way through when he felt...something. Sonny looked up and was able to catch Will as he turned to face the screen again. Sonny didn’t know what to make of it so he went back to watching the movie. 

“Can I,” Will began in a quiet whisper, “can I ask you questions? A personal one, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

Sonny thought about it for a second, “sure I guess.”

Will wasn’t looking at Sonny though, his eyes were glued to the television, “when did you first know? I--I mean how did you know you were...gay?”

Of the million things Sonny thought Will would ask him, that was probably the last.

“I don’t really know...I remember really liking superhero comics as a kid. But I guess...sophomore year of high school was when I first started noticing other boys.” 

“When you came out...was it easy?” Asked Will still not looking at him.  
“Sort of...I was still terrified about doing it. But my family has really been amazing about it. They know that I’m still me you know, they love me,” Sonny shrugged, it was difficult to explain. People had been concerned about him and his future, sure, but no one stopped talking to him because of it, no one thought less of him. He was still himself and that was all that mattered, his family only got to know him a little better. 

Will didn’t say anything after that, just kept his eyes locked onto the television, but it really got Sonny’s mind working into overdrive. That same feeling of hope sprouted in his stomach again. Will couldn’t be, could he? He had a daughter but that didn’t mean anything really. But those questions were unbelievable pointed, only someone going through the ordeal would really care to listen to a gay man talk about his coming out. 

Sonny’s thoughts were interrupted suddenly when he felt something near his hand. He looked down at his hand on the seat, lying next to Will’s hand, close but not touching. Sonny looked up but Will was still focused on the movie. At least he looked that way, but as Sonny watched him he thought maybe he saw the boy’s cheeks turn a bit rosy. Sonny decided that Will probably just brushed his hand against his by accident and decided to ignore it. But then he felt it again, a light brush against his hand, Sonny had to look at Will again and this time was able to see that Will was perceptively redder. 

Sonny wondered if Will was messing with him. He wouldn’t be the first guy to play gay chicken with him thinking to get a laugh at Sonny’s expense. Sonny turned his hand until his palm was facing up, an invitation. Sonny would just wait and see how things played out.

Will’s hand moved slow, annoying and endearingly slow. But soon Will’s fingers were sliding through Sonny’s until they were palm to palm and Will released the breath he’d been holding in one shaky huff. Sonny squeezed his hand and Will looked up. They stared at each other, Will’s face red from nervousness, Sonny could feel his heart hammer in his own chest, until Will finally laughed and turned away. But he didn’t let go of Sonny’s hand, he squeezed as well and they ended up watching the movie like that. Will’s hand slotted with Sonny’s, neither man could keep the smiles off their face.

The movie ended and the credits scrolled across the screen and neither man wanted to let go of the other. They sat there as the main menu came back onto the screen, Sonny thought Will looked nervous. 

“You’re not fucking with me are you?” Sonny didn’t know why he chose that moment to ask the question but he had to know. 

Will didn’t respond, he looked up and into Sonny’s eyes and he shook his head no.

“Okay,” was all Sonny could think to ask.

“Daddy,” both men flinched when they heard Arianna’s voice, “I have to go to the potty.”

“Okay come on,” said Will as he finally let go of Sonny’s hand and lifted his daughter, “is it okay if we…” Will pointed vaguely in the direction of Sonny’s bathroom.

“Of course,” said Sonny. 

As he waited Sonny tidied up his living room, fluffed his cushions back into shape, and put the empty popcorn bowl into the sink. He felt giddy, energized, but he didn’t know what it all meant. Will came back out carrying a tired Arianna who yawned as they approached. 

“I think I better get this one home,” said Will, his cheeks that rosy tint they’d taken on as he tried to sneakily hold Sonny’s hand.

“Yeah,” said Sonny, he had no idea what he was supposed to do now. 

He walked father and daughter to the door and opened it for Will. The young father stepped outside and turned to look at Sonny. They stood there each unsure of what to do next not wanting the moment to end.

“I’ll text you,” said Sonny, “and you better respond.”

Will chuckled, “I will, I promise, I learned my lesson.” 

Will turned and walked away and then stopped, “I like your shirt...by the way,” he said and walked out of sight.

Sonny decided that studying was probably exactly what he had to do to take his mind off of things, though he doubted it would work. 

~

Tuesday was the first day that Marlena was going to pick Arianna up from school. Will was infinitely grateful, he normally only had one class that day which left him in a weird limbo, out too early to go directly to Arianna’s school, too late to go home and rest. He usually ended up finding a quiet corner on campus and normal did most of his homework and reading then. But that wouldn’t be a problem now, Marlena was going to spend her evening with Arianna which left Will with a gaping hole in his day, he didn't know what to do with his time now that he had it. He decided he might as well study, he was tucked into a quiet corner of the library, reading a short story he was expected to write a paper about for his english class. His phone dinged then, he pulled it out and read the message he knew was from Sonny. Ever since Sunday he’d been texting him random questions, this particular one was _‘pepsi or coke?’_ Will rolled his eyes as he texted back.

 _‘Coke who drinks pepsi’,_ responded Will. 

_‘Lol I see, interesting.’_

Will hadn’t been able to stop thinking about sunday, just the thought of it made him hot under the collar, he didn’t know why something so innocent was having such an effect on him. It was actually annoying, he had just been reading when the feel of Sonny’s palm sprung into his mind unbidden and suddenly Will could think of nothing else, it made studying near impossible. He gave up, he packed everything back into his bag and let his face fall onto his backpack with a groan.

Just then his phone dinged again, he checked it smiling and was only slightly disappointed when it turned out to be a text from his grandmother, _‘Dinner at 7?’_

 _‘Sure’_ responded Will, disappointed. Not that he didn't want to have dinner with his grandmother, he had just really been hoping it was Sonny. 

Not wanting to go back to studying Will decided to do a grocery run. It would be easier without Arianna there who always wanted to take everything home. 

He walked through the grocery store in a daze grabbing things he knew he needed and tossed them into his cart. He ended up in the cereal aisle when he had an idea.

 _‘Favorite cereal?’_ He texted Sonny.

He didn’t have to wait long for the reply, _‘honey nut cheerios’_.

 _‘Lame,’_ texted back Will as he giggled.

_‘Lame!?! They're the best. Alright Horton what do you like’_

_‘Easy, lucky charms,’_

‘ _Do you know how much sugar is in those,’_

_‘yeah i do thats why i buy them.’_

Will laughed as he grabbed a large box of Lucky Charms down from the shelf and tossed them into his cart. He rolled down the aisle and stopped as he was rolling past the Honey Nut Cheerios. He grabbed a box and looked at it, it was stupid but he threw the box into the cart, he’d buy them because Sonny liked them. 

He put everything away when he arrived home and looked at his refrigerator and was glad to see that it was full. There were a few months after Gabi left when he had trouble buying enough food for himself and he was in no hurry to repeat the experience. Will decided that it was finally time to look through the catalogue EJ had left with him. Everything in it was gaudy and overpriced but more importantly none of it looked like it belonged in his house. He flipped through the pages, past golden footed sofas with lion heads on them and other ugly looking furniture that didn't fit his home. Will was losing hope of finding something he liked when he found it, it was modern looking, no lions heads or gold leafing, the sofa was a simple wooden frame with large blue colored cushions. There was a matching coffee table and rug which Will went ahead and circled, he wanted it all and he figured his mother owed him big time. He didn't dwell on the fact that EJ would probably be paying for it all. By the time he finished circling things he was several thousand dollars in, he flipped through the childrens furniture and decided to add on a childrens sized love seat for Ari. He filled out the order form and then used his phone to send a photo to EJ, he was sure he was going to make an assistant do it anyway. 

At seven in the evening Will was walking through Horton square to the address his grandmother had sent him. He ended up at an italian restaurant right off of the square, the fenced off patio gave an amazing view of the square itself, perfect for people watching. The patio seemed full but among the people he could see his grandmother and daughter sitting at a table munching on bread. 

“Daddy!” His daughter shouted as he approached, he smiled, he couldn't not smile when his daughter was looking at him like that. He sat across from his grandmother who greeted him with a massive smile as well. 

“So ladies what have we been doing,” Will leaned over and planted a kiss on his daughter's cheek who scrunched her face up in fake disgust. 

“Oh we’ve been so busy haven’t we Ari,” said Marlena as the waitress came over with a glass of red wine for her and a glass of Peroni for him. Will mouthed a silent thank you at his grandmother and took a long gulp of the beer as his daughter told him all about the stuff they’d been doing. 

“She’s been good?” Asked Will once the food arrived.

“Yes,” said his grandmother, “she's been a little angel.”

“It’s an act,” said Will laughing, “believe me she’s a little godzilla.” 

Conversation flowed easily, school, friends, the usual. Will really didn’t have much to report on any of those things. Life had been a little chaotic, he hadn’t had time to reconnect with his older friends and wasn’t sure if he wanted to either. His grandmother didn’t have much to say about that other than it was his decision and she knew he would do what was best for both him and his daughter, as people get older they tend to drift apart, it happens. Will only nodded along, he felt like what happened between him and his friends was a little different, sides had been chosen and Will had been left behind. 

They ordered gelato for dessert and ate it slowly, they didn’t want to leave quite yet. That was when Will saw him, his spoon was somewhere between his face and his cup when Sonny walked across the square, he was probably headed to work. Will was so distracted in fact he hadn’t heard his grandmother talking to him, barely noticed when the gelato on his spoon slipped off and onto his pants. Then Sonny looked up and Will turned away as fast as he could. His grandmother was watching him, amusement clear on her face, eyebrow slightly raised. 

“Distracted,” she asked, and Will could do nothing but groan in embarrassment. 

“He’s coming this way,” were her next words and Will had one horrifying moment of nervousness before he turned but no one was there. His grandmother laughed this time, Will could feel his face burning beet red when he turned. 

“Why,” was all he could ask, annoyed and embarrassed that his grandmother had witnessed his pathetic reaction. She was still grinning at him which was honestly the most annoying part of the situation. 

“You like him.” It hadn't been a question.

“Yeah,” Will sighed, “I do.”

“Good,” said his grandmother as she laughed again.

“He...he didn’t notice...did he?” Will hoped 

“Oh no, he noticed,” said his cruel and evil grandmother, her grin still on her face. 

Will groaned and buried his head in his hands.

After dessert they went for a small walk around Horton Square, Arianna bouncing between them. Hopefully the walk would tire her out enough so she’d sleep that night. His grandmother led the way and if Will had been paying attention he might have been able to stop her but next thing he knew they were standing outside of Common Grounds.

Will froze a few steps away from the door, his grandmother laughing at the look of betrayal on his face. 

“What,” she said, “I’m thirsty.” 

She walked in with Arianna and left him standing there like an idiot until finally he slunk into the coffee house. Will knew his face was already red and only hoped it wouldn't turn tomato red. His grandmother was already at the bar chatting with Sonny, Will wished the ground would open wide and swallow him whole, unfortunately that wasn’t going to happen. He stood behind Ari and watched Sonny talk, he followed the curve of Sonny’s lips as they formed words and felt himself grow red when the tip of Sonny’s tongue poked out to moisten his lips. That was the same moment he looked up and into Sonny’s honey colored eyes. 

“I’m going to go use the bathroom,” he announced, turned on his heel and escaped into the back, he was pretty sure he could make it through the small window in the bathroom and then he would run screaming into the woods and never be seen again.

~

Sonny’s week had been amazing so far and it had only just started. He chatted with his dad on monday, went to classes, and couldn’t help it if a smile unexpectedly graced his lips at random intervals. 

Tuesday was the day he spent at the coffee house, he had payroll to finish and he had to make the schedule for the next few weeks and he also had to place his supply order for the week. After a few hours of that though he desperately needed a break, he didn’t have enough time to go home to nap so he decided to walk around for a bit. 

It was one of those nights where even after the sunset the heat of the day seemed to linger over the town like a humid cloud. Sonny sat in the square and killed time on his phone looking through instagram and snapchat, laughing at stupid memes and videos. A cool breeze blew through the square and alleviated some of the heat that was pressing down on Sonny. He sighed as he put his phone away and just let himself relax for a second. Before he knew it his alarm was going off letting him know he had to head back to work, with a grunt he got up and started walking back. 

He didn’t know what made him look back, but he did and amongst the crowded streets, and the dozens of people sitting at that particular restaurant somehow his eyes landed right on Will. The boy instantly looked away from him, once again Sonny had caught him staring, he watched as Will’s face grew red at having been caught, Sonny couldn’t help chuckling, he would have talked to the boy but he needed to head back to work. 

Sonny hadn’t been back that long when Arianna and her great grandmother walked into the coffee shop followed by a flustered looking Will. Sonny did his best to ignore Will in order to talk to the little girl who was currently telling Sonny about the things she and her great grandmother had done. He chatted with them casually and finally not being able to resist any longer he looked to the side and at Will. Those crystal blue eyes were locked onto him, but they weren’t looking him in the eye, they were locked onto his lips, and as if sensing Sonny’s look Will finally looked up. 

“I’m going to go use the bathroom,” he announced and then practically ran for it. Sonny didn't think daughter or grandmother noticed the exchange so he tried not to be too obvious about their interaction. Sonny could feel heat permeate his body, how could he have not noticed the other boy’s staring, Will was so obvious about it, Sonny swore his lips were tingling from the look alone. 

“Sonny,” Arianna waved him forward, “I have a secret to tell you.” 

“You do?” Sonny leaned forward and Arianna cupped her little hands over his ear.

“My daddy likes you,” she whispered and Sonny couldn’t help it when he looked at the little girl shocked. 

“What did she say?” Asked Will as he took his position behind his daughter once again. 

Arianna giggled and went back to sipping her hot chocolate.

“Nothing,” said Sonny trying to keep his smile from completely taking over his face, “can I talk to you...in my office, just really quick. Is that okay?” He turned and asked Marlena who had a friendly smile on her face.

“Of course it is, me and Ari have to finish these cookies before her dad notices anyways.”

Will was going to say something about that but Sonny grabbed his arm and manhandled him into his office. Sonny shut the door and was relieved when the noises from outside were muffled to a distant hum. Will was waiting for him expectantly, eyebrows raised in confusion and interest. 

“What’s up,” said Will still flushed.

“Your daughter...she just told me something pretty interesting,” Sonny walked around his office and tidied up his desk. He looked up and smiled at Will who was standing there looking unsure, his eyebrows were raised towards his hairline.

“What did she say?”

Sonny walked back towards Will until he was standing right in front of the boy, he let his eyes roam across Will’s face, from his cerulean eyes down to his cherry red lips, and then he looked back up, “she said you liked me.”

Sonny watched as different emotions played across Will’s face, shock, fear, and resignation.

“I do like you as--as a friend.”

Sonny shook his head, “no it’s more than that.”

Will opened his mouth to say something but couldn’t form the words.

“If you don’t want me to, tell me, okay? But i'm going to kiss you now.”

Sonny walked forward until he could feel the heat from Will’s body, he leaned in and next thing his lips were brushing over Will’s. They kissed, Will made a noise in the back of his throat a sound of surprise, but he didn’t push Sonny away, then the heavy weight of a hand found Sonny’s hip, another slid across his back and suddenly Will was pulling him in. Their kiss deepened, Sonny felt the slide of Will’s tongue across his lower lip and couldn't stop himself from moaning as well. Then almost as quickly as it started Sonny pulled away and took a step back. Will was definitely red, his lips were swollen and puffy from kissing. Will still had his eyes closed but after a moment he finally opened them.

“You didn’t push me away,” said Sonny as he used his hand to wipe his mouth of excess saliva. 

Will shook his head, “no I didn’t,” Sonny watched as Will’s lost and confused expression morphed into one of joy and embarrassment. 

“You...you should have said something,” Sonny wished he hadn’t spent the past few weeks agonizing over his crush.

“I couldn’t,” said Will as he took a deep breath, “I’m a twenty three year old single dad Sonny, not exactly boyfriend material.”

“You're an idiot,” said Sonny, “I’ve wanted you since that first day when you burst through my doors.”

Sonny lunged at him again, wrapped both his arms around Will’s neck. Will slid his hand along his waist and beneath his shirt until they were running up his bare back, Sonny’s entire body quivered and he moaned into his kiss. A quick rap at his door had both boys pull away, they took the little time that they had to recompose themselve when one of Sonny’s baristas opened the door a bit. 

“Sonny, there's a guy on the phone for you,” said the person then left. The barista hadn't noticed the way both boys were out of breath and flushed. 

“I better go, my grandma…” Will didnt want to leave.

“Yeah,” said Sonny as he straightened his apron.

Will turned and gripped the door knob of Sonny’s office and stopped, he turned and asked, “what are you doing friday?”

“Nothing,” Sonny responded immediately, if he had plans he would cancel them.

“Do you...would you like to go out on a date with me on friday?” Asked Will, Sonny didn’t understand how the boy could still sound so unsure. 

“I’d love too,” said Sonny who once again couldn't stop himself from smiling.

“Good. Okay. I’ll text you later,” this time Will did leave his office. 

Sonny walked around his desk and fell into his office chair. This had been the best day of his year so far, maybe his life, even as he lifted the phone to his ear, he couldn’t keep the cheerfulness out of his voice or the smile off his face. He had a date with Will Horton, hottest dad in all of Salem. 

  
  
  



End file.
